The tension in the room was unbearable.
"I'm sorry. I guess that was shitty way of me to do it." Roenan said as he got back to his feet.
"Are you gay?" Drakke asked immediately, hardly letting Roenan finish his sentence.
Roenan went quiet.
"I asked if you're gay!" Drakke exclaimed as he turned around and look at him.
Roenan stared into his eyes, forcing his own expression to be blank.
Drakke searched his eyes back and forth. "No one can ever find out about this." He said, sternly. "Do you hear me? You can never mention this information to anyone." Roenan noticed that he was visibly shaking.
"Drakke...," He started quietly. Drakke turned away from him and grabbed for the alcohol. He poured whatever it was into a crystal glass, brought it up to his lips and tossed it to the back of his throat. After he set the glass back down, he bent over to grip the edge of the table with his hands; his head dropping. He was whispering to himself in Vernajjian.
"Drakke." Roenan took a hesitant step forward.
"It's a felony here and the country's religion states it as unclean. It's unacceptable and is punished with either prison, torture, or even death. Do you get me?" Drakke asked as grabbed for the alcohol again but poured it in both of the glasses this time.
He took a deep breath and turned to face Roenan, holding one of the glasses out for him to grab. "You're going to be harder to watch over than I originally planned." He said, his shaky voice returning more to normal.
"I told you I don't need your protection."
"I told you I'm giving you my protection."
Roenan and Drakke starred at eachother silently for a moment before Roenan grabbed the glass out of his hand.
"I'm sorry for jumping you like that. I'm aware of Vernajja's stance on that topic and I guess I didn't take it as seriously as I should have," Roenan sighed loudly. "Can we just clear the air and have a decent night?"
Drakke nodded slightly. "It's fine, I want to enjoy tonight too. I never have breaks to do this sort of thing anymore."
Roenan nodded before looking down to his glass giving the contents a sniff. "Doesn't smell horrible." Drakke huffed a small laugh that was followed by a deep breath. There was a moment of silence.
"Well, Cheers." Drakke toasted in Vernajjian, lifting his glass.
"Cheers." Roenan returned in Jaedan, hesitantly. They clinked their glasses and tossed back the liquor. Drakke took it down well, as he had the first time, but Roenan brought his head back forward and was coughing into his sleeve. Drakke laughed quietly at him.
Once Roenan composed himself he pointed to the cards. "What do you have planned over here."
"It was a game of honesty and trust ironically enough. I thought it would be a good icebreaker to really get to know each other before you leave here. I wanted to prove to you that you could opened up to me and trust me, but apparently you had your own idea of how to determine that..." Drakke said with a shake of his head.
"I'm sorry, I'm always jump the gun. Kissing you was rash and incredibly uncalled for. I-"
"Forget it already. We're still playing if you were starting to think you were off the hook. " Drakke responded as he grabbed his chair and sat. He pointed at Roenan's chair which had rolled near the end of the table. "Get that thing back over here and sit."
"Yeah, yeah." Roenan said and he did what he was told. Once Roenan was seated, Drakke began to explain the rules.
"Have you played war?" He asked.
"Yes." Roenan responded.
"Well that's what this is. If you lose, the other person gets to ask you any question. You can either choose to answer it honestly, or take a drink if you don't want to share. If we tie, we get to ask each other a favor. If you refuse the favor, you drink. Fair enough?" Drakke asked.
"Fair enough." Roenan answered.
"Let's start." Drakke and Roenan flipped their cards. Drakke had a seven and Roenan had a four. Drakke smiled.
"Are you gay?"
"I thought you already figured that out." Roenan said.
"You never actually answered." Drakke said defensively.
"If it wasn't obvious enough, you're an idiot."
"You're still not answering!" Drakke exclaimed.
Roenan rolled his eyes. He picked up his glass and drank.
"You little..." Drakke started as he glanced in annoyance at Roenan and Roenan made a face at him in return. Drakke rolled his eyes and poured more alcohol into Roenan's glass. They flipped their cards again. Drakke had a queen and Roenan had a two. Roenan frowned.
"Is this game going to be rigged?"
Drakke chuckled, but his face quickly went serious.
"Oh boy." Roenan whispered.
"Why did your mother try to kill you?" He asked.
Roenan felt a sear of nostalgia and betrayal course through his body. "I don't know." Roenan wasn't ready to confront what had lead his mother to do what she did. He had worked on blocking it out of his memory.
"You have to answer honestly." Drakke reminded him.
"It's like I said, I don't know." Roenan looked down. "Let's move on." He said impatiently and Drakke studied him for a moment before placing his hand down on his pile.
They flipped their cards again. Drakke had a six and Roenan had a ten.
"Why were there Vernajjians at my home... that night?" Roenan asked, meeting Drakke's gaze.
"I wouldn't know that." Drakke responded too quickly. Roenan caught a glimpse of something off in his expression. "I thought you were going to play by the rules." Roenan challenged. Drakke went to reach for his glass.
"Drakke." Roenan warned. Drakke's hand froze and he sighed deeply. He moved his hand up to grip the bridge of his nose.
"I really don't know much about that. They'd been keeping tabs on your family. They were going to talk to your father. I don't know all the details. I don't rank high enough to receive that type of information." He flipped his card after moments of Roenan staring at him expectantly. Drakke gestured to Roenan's pile and he reluctantly flipped the card. They both had sevens.
"I seriously just need for you to trust that I won't betray you." Drakke said before Roenan could speak. "That's the favor I want from you."
Roenan felt guarded and could only muster a quiet, "I can try." Drakke was looking at him intently. "But I need you to promise me you'll get me back to Jaeda." He said as his favor.
"I promise." Drakke said with a small, warm smile. They flipped their cards and Drakke had a jack while Roenan had an ace.
A cheeky grin spread across Roenan's face, and Drakke glared at him suspiciously.
"Did you like it?" Roenan asked.
Drakke looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on his face and he out a bark of a laugh. "You fucker." He said before lifting his glass and giving a wink. He took a sip.
Roenan laughed. "You definitely liked it." He enjoyed that Drakke was slowly turning red.
"Get off your highhorse, Jaeda. I fucked my friend's sister not his brother." Drakke said has he flipped his next card. He got an ace and Roenan flipped a two.
"What country were you born in?" Drakke asked. Roenan looked at him confused.
"Jaeda." He answered as if it should've been obvious. "I've always been in Jaeda." He wondered if Drakke asked him because of his mixed ethnicities.
Roenan pulled a queen and Drakke pulled a jack.
"Why did you just ask me that?" Roenan tried. He could tell Drakke didn't expect him to ask a follow-up question on this subject. He looked like he was struggling with himself to come up with a response.
"It's just-," He cut off. He went to reach for his glass again but Roenan grabbed his hand.
"I'm trying to not smack you right now. I really am." Roenan said seriously.
Drakke sighed and looked Roenan straight in the eye. His eyebrows came together as he thought about how to word what he was about to say. He looked down and his long, dark blonde eyelashes were contrasting with his caramel colored eyes. And his sharp features were prominent as his jaw worked when he chewed on his bottom lip. He was a handsome guy.
He sighed. "Screw it. I glimpsed your profile."
Roenan looked at him questioningly.
"Your birth certificate..." He trailed off.
"Go on." Roenan urged impatiently.
"Your birth certificate says you were born in Vernajja." He looked into Roenan's silver and caramel eyes. "Your file still states that you are a legal citizen of Vernajja. The documents with it mentioned that you resided in Jaeda, but there's nothing in there about you being a Jaedan citizen." Drakke swallowed and watched Roenan as his mouth fell open and he pressed back into his chair.
"That doesn't make any sense." He whispered. "I grew up there, I'm not lying to you."
"I looked it over and over trying to catch myself in a mistake. I couldn't find a fault. If I'm not missing some piece of information, you're Vernajjian." Drakke clarified.
"No, that's not right. I had all my documents. I never had any issues in Jaeda." Roenan said defensively.
"Those might've been fraudulent. These are legitimate documents that we have. They're dated back to when you were born, with all the right stamps of approval and signatures needed. There's documentation confirming their legitimacy."
"Are you trying to tell me I've been living under a fraudulent identity?" Roenan asked in disbelief. Drakke's mouth opened slightly and he seemed to be struggling how to respond. "No." Roenan said as he got to his feet. "No, you're wrong. The documents you have here are wrong. You're definitely missing something. I have to go." Roenan turned on his heels and headed for the door.
"Roenan!" Drakke said rushing after him and grabbing his arm. Roenan tried to pull away, but Drakke grabbed his other arm and turned him to pin him to the wall near the door to force Roenan to face him. Roenan turn his head and squeezed his eyes so he didn't have to see Drakke. It forced tears to run his face.
"Hey." Drakke whispered. Roenan felt Drakke use the cuff his dress shirt to swipe the tears off of his face. He froze before he gently dabbed over the swelling of the cut he caused from the punch. "Calm down a little, okay? I can figure this out for you." Drakke tone was soft and reassuring.
"I don't really know," Roenan choked out, "what's going on anymore." He turned his head and opened his watery eyes to look at Drakke.
Drakke stared at him with concern. "You just work on doing your best at the boot camps for now and I'll work on the figuring some stuff out for you. So don't stress this. Leave it to me." Drakke said.
Roenan looked up at him through his wet eyelashes. "Drakke, why exactly are you helping me? What are your intentions? And why did you appear right when I got here."
Drakke smiled crookedly and one of his dimples showed. "I've been waiting for something to come along that gives my life and work some meaning for a while. I've done enough shit I regret and I'm old enough to make my own decisions now. I don't agree with the way things are being run here. I don't agree with the Vernajjian government. I guess, in a way, I'm being selfish. You can consider this my own form of rebellion." He lightly patted Roenan's cheek before he loosened his grip on him and stepped back. Once it looked like Roenan wasn't going to try to run off again he headed back for the table. He began cleaning up the cards. "Well, tonight was a bust."
Roenan couldn't help but to breath out a small laugh before sniffling and dabbing at his eyes. Drakke looked back at him with an amused expression on his face, shaking his head. "Worst hang out I've had I a while." He added.
"Well, I'm the one with the swollen eye, you dick." Roenan said.
"You deserved it."
"I guess."
They both smiled at that.
Drakke put the cards away and poured two more large glasses of liquor. "I came here to drink, though, and drink I will!" Drakke said holding a glass out toward Roenan and lifting his own. "And I'm finally beginning to feel buzzed." Roenan walked over and took his. They clinked glasses one more time before downing their drinks.
"I'm still annoyed you can speak Jaedan so fluently." Roenan said eyeing Drakke. He smiled innocently at Roenan and Roenan shook his head in disappointment. "You still have a stupid accent, you know."
"Easy, kid. I'm going to be at the receiving end of your Vernajjian for a while. Watch what you say now."
"Are any more of them like you?" Roenan asked.
"Who?" Drakke asked.
"The other Vernajjians."
Drakke licked his lips as he thought. "I'm a diamond in the rough, if we're being honest."
The room went silent for a moment as Drakke's eyes drilled into Roenan's.
"Honestly, you need to expect what you feared when you came." His tone had turned serious and it sent a shiver down Roenan's spine. "In boot camp, at least. The students shouldn't be so bad. You'll be okay at the University. Just watch what you say and do, always. And watch out for the ranking military personel."
Drakke turned and pulled out his notepad. He jotted something down, tore the page out, and walked over to Roenan, tossing the notepad to the table. He grabbed Roenan's hand and pressed the slip into his palm.
"Memorize this, then flush it." He muttered. "Right when you get out of boot camp, come find me." He squeezed Roenan's hand before he let go to put everything else in his bag. Roenan looked down at the slip. There was a building name, a floor number, and a room number. He looked up at Drakke and watched as he slid his bag's strap over his shoulder. He turned around and looked at Roenan. "Let's go." He said.
They left the room and Drakke walked ahead of Roenan, stopping when they reached the hospital room door. "Try to get some sleep. I'll be here to get you tomorrow, bright and early." He said before looking around before adding, "Not that there's any sense of time in here." Roenan opened the door and Drakke set his hand on his shoulder to give it a squeeze and a sheepish smile. Roenan returned the sheepish smile and headed through the door, hearing it close behind him. His heart dropped when he realized Saive was missing again.