A Slice Of Life

As Sylvester peered through the railed bars of the banister, peeking down on the arriving chaos, his gut twisted painfully and his bladder felt fuller than ever. His knuckles were white as he clung to the rods, his breathing shallow. 

And his heart? The thing was hammering so fast, fluttering as though it had mechanical wings and was about to burst from his chest and take flight.

All the excitement, all the grand plans and over-exaggerated expectations, they’d been chasing after him for days, running as freely as wild horses. Now the hour had finally arrived, all his enthusiasm had crashed face first into iron walls, leaving behind a sickly sense of dread.

Security had phoned from the gates, announcing their guests. He’d heard Jackson give the go ahead for them to head on down.

The waiting game started. Each second brewed more uncertainty. Every moment bled a new wave of illogical fear.

Jackson was amused. He was waiting down below, the huge double doors before him, waiting patiently to open them. With a glance up, he found Sly’s hiding spot with ease, threw a cheeky grin and a reassuring wink, and pulled the doors open.

Noise seeped into the estate, loud and overlapping, voices on voices, trying to outspeak one another, and slowly, figures pushed through the threshold, throwing greetings to Jackson, some heaving presents.

If Sly was a good host, he would have been down there, ready to welcome them alongside Jackson. He would have beamed at his friends, showing them how pleased he was they’d made it.

But he wasn’t a good host.

It’d been a long week. He’d hyped it up in his head so much, his energy ran stagnant. He tried to find his voice, to call out, but his lungs malfunctioned and he sank lower against the carpet, pressing his face harder between the gaps.

Through the disorder, he identified Ronan first. If only because he was impossible to miss; Waving a fairy wand manically, sporting the most outrageous tiara and pink diamante tutu, he stood out. He was jumping around on his tip-toes, twirling around Jackson, who entertained him, before crushing him into a giant, smothering hug.

Behind him stood Adam, Ronan’s boyfriend and Daddy. He was a tall man, almost as tall as Ronan. His dark skin glistened in the overhead light, and his smile was wide and friendly. He grabbed Jackson by the arm, pulling him into a one-armed hug while trying to stabilize the brightly wrapped gift in his other arm.

Adam and Ronan were frequent visitors. Ronan was Sly’s longest friend, and Adam and Jackson went way back. Had it only been those two, Sly doubted he would have been so anxious, but their presence was merely the start of the mayhem.

With uneven blond hair, gelled up into a mohawk of spikes, a boy dressed in a T-rex costume was shaking the seven wonders of heaven out of the odd shaped box in his hand.

Asa.

He was one of Sly’s favourite people. There was something about his wildness, his inability to conform, which made him smile. Pair that with the outrageous but naive one-liners, self-obsession, and a heart of gold, and it made for a one in a life-time friend.

Behind dino Aze, Joel Murdock stood. He seemed to be criticizing Asa, who’d clearly turned his ears off, and eventually gave up.

Joel was Lucien’s, his best buddy’s, elder brother, but they looked very little alike. They shared the same dark hair and the same naughty smile, but the similarities stopped there.

Speaking of Lucien, he scanned the crowd, his unease lessening when he found him. Dressed up as a pirate, with an eye-patch shielding his left eye and a sword dangling at the side of his hip.

They knew each other well. They’d become inseparable, and when apart, they were usually talking on the phone, texting or playing some form of online game together. Angel, Lucien’s Daddy, joked they shared a brain cell.

Sly wasn’t sure it was a joke — it was eerie how similar their brains worked. They both always seemed to agree, liked the same things, said the same thing at the same time, and always had a knack for knowing what the other was thinking or feeling.

For instance, Lucien was the only one who’d thought to look up. He’d scanned overhead until their eyes locked. A slow smile stretched his face. With a nod to the present his Daddy was lugging, a small, neatly wrapped parcel covered with stickers, he mouthed, ‘You’re gonna love it’.”

Sly had no doubt he would.

Ronan may have been his oldest friend, but Lucien had quickly become his closest. He trusted them both the same, loved them both the same, but these days, if he needed advice, it was Lucien he turned to. Hidden beneath his airiness was wisdom and a grounded ambience which helped him make better life choices.

Ro gave great advice too. It was chaotic, mischievous and took an obnoxious amount of self-confidence to pull off, but he always appreciated the out-of-the-box mindset.

For example, when Sly had asked them both what they thought he should get Jackson for his birthday, Luci had suggested a scrapbook of all the sweet memories they’d made together.

Ronan had suggested body candy, a chocolate fountain and an edible thong.

They were not the same.

Jackson, well aware he still hadn’t crept out of his hiding spot, gave him a helping hand. “Sly, are you going to come down and greet your guests?”

It alerted the others and they all followed Jackson’s stare.

“SLLLYYYYY!” Asa squealed, throwing the present, bolting towards him with his arms outstretched. He tripped on the first step, swore with enough vulgarity to earn a death glare from Angel and a hoot from Ronan, and bounced up, climbing the steps on all fours.

Joel winced and picked up the present. “And this is why I refused to buy anything he could break.”

“Are you playing hide and seek?” Asa called. “I found you. You’re it! No, wait, don’t be it yet. You havesta open your present thingy. It’s a baby Yoda from Star Wars and we —”

“Asa,” Joel groaned. “People are supposed to open their presents to see what they’ve got. You’re not supposed to tell them.”

“He should have opened it quicker-er then,” Asa said with a pout. He’d given up climbing the stairs and was trying to slide down the banister.

“If he gets to tell you his, do I get to tell you mine?” he called up, as though he hadn’t phoned him up the moment he’d bought it and spilt the beans. He was grinning so wide, he outshone the sun. Ronan was breathtaking. He was perhaps one of the best looking men Sly had ever seen. He should have been up on the big screen, living it up in Hollywood. He used to know how pretty he was, but nowadays, he seemed to have lost some of his confidence and Sly had to remind him.

“Behave, Ronan,” Adam warned, shooting him a look. For a split second, Ronan’s smile faltered, but it was overshadowed by another blinding grin.

“Fiiiiine. I really wanted to wait for Ozzy and Eyes to get here, but I’m not sure I can wait. I need you to open it. You’ll love it, babes.”

The world was a truly small place. Their online friend, Oz, who’d become a close real friend, had an older brother, Isaac, who somehow had been friends with Ronan. It’d seemed bizarre, but Ronan hadn’t thought so.

He’d said all of them were bound by fate, and they were all destined to end up best friends.

So, of course, Jackson had no choice but to invite both Reid brothers to his party.

“Whatever, they’re late, that’s on them. Are you ready, dino brat?” Ronan bounced over to Asa, twirling and spraying his magic wand. Asa met him halfway, diving against him with enough force to leave the two in danger of falling. They saved themself and laughed hysterically.

“I’m so very ready, sunny-shine brat,” Asa said, nodding so hard, he must have given himself whiplash.

“Boys, I expect perfect synchronization, do you hear me?”

While Sly had no idea what that meant, the others seemed to have been debriefed and all nodded. After clearing his throat, a dramatic noise that needed a few taps to the throat with his princess wand, Ronan broke out into a round of Happy Birthday.

Asa joined in, screeching off-key. The others chimed in.

When it ended, they all grinned up at him. And rather than thank them, for reasons he couldn’t even understand, Sly burst into tears.

The commotion was instant. They called out to him, asked him what was wrong, but he zoned it out, burying his face into his hands as the sobs racked his body.

It was his Daddy’s touch that jarred him out of it. Gentle and comforting, safer than any blanket, his hands cupped his cheeks. Choking on his emotions, Sly tumbled into his arms, burying his face into his shoulder, sniffling, breathing in the sweet scent of his Daddy’s aftershave.

“Little dove? What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know,” he whimpered, shaking his head in despair. Daddy slid to the floor, pulling him into his lap.

“Alright, nothing to see here, ladies. Let’s put the presents in the kitchen and go and see what trouble we can find ourselves in,” he heard Ronan say.

“Look at me, sweet boy.”

Blinking through the filmy later encasing his vision, he met the love simmering back through his Daddy’s eyes. They’d come a long way from where they’d started.

Looking back, the silly contract thing seemed more like a joke than reality, something they both still laughed about. But sometimes, in the moments when he felt most vulnerable, when he was on the cusp of slipping, but still clinging to big space, he still felt like that scared, nervous kid who’d stumbled through Jackson’s front door.

“No tears, birthday boy.” Jackson kissed them away one by one. “Did I go overboard? Is it too much? I can send them home if it—”

Sly shook his head miserably. “I wanna see them, Daddy,” he said. “ And — and — and—” He broke off with a shaky sniffle.

Jackson rubbed soothing circles on his back, giving him the time he needed to catch his breath and figure his thoughts out. He wasn’t great if he felt rushed. His Daddy knew that and was great at being patient.

“I’m not sad. I don’t — don’t — I “ Screwing his eyes shut, he tried again. “I wanna play with them.”

“I think you just got a bit overwhelmed, Sylvester,” Daddy breathed.

Sly nodded glumly. They were all his friends, even Eyes, who had scared him the first time they’d met. He was big and aggressive, and sometimes mean, but once Sly decided he was going to be brave and be his friend regardless, he realized he wasn’t so bad. Most of it was bravado.

But only a few of them had ever seen him small. Luci, Ronan and Oz had seen him in Little space. The others hadn’t; it was a part of himself he was still nervous about exposing.

This wasn’t just a party. It was extending into a Little sleepover. Until the time had come, it’d been an amazing concept. Now it was here, it was scary and he wanted to hide beneath a rock.

“They — They —” Wiping his face, brushing the remainding tears away with his gloved hand, he managed a shaky smile. “They all dressed up, Daddy.”

After recalling the fun he’d had at Lucien’s Halloween party, he’d given the verfict he wanted a fancy dress party when Daddy had asked him for a theme. “They have,” Daddy agreed. “And I spoke to Blake before the others arrived. They’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”

“Kay.” He nibbled his lower lip. “Do I — Do I have to say hello to everybody now?”

“It’s the polite thing to do,” Daddy agreed. “Are you ready, or should we take a breather first?”

He opted for a breather.

“Do you want to open your presents when we go back down, or when everybody is here, because I heard on good authority Asa bought you the green thing.”

Sly giggled. Daddy knew Grogu’s name but still called him the green thing just to tease him.

“Ronan bought me a Lego set. It’s a giant Death Star.”

“Of course he told you.” Daddy rolled his eyes. They sat together for a few more minutes. When Sly managed to put his emotions back in their dented cage, he stood up, took his Daddy’s hand, and they made their way down the stairwell.

His own costume took some adjusting too. His Daddy had given it to him as a birthday present. It was a Dark Vader costume (Duh!) but it was exceptinal.

He’d been expecting something cheap and cheerful, like the ones he’d been looking at on Ebay. It’d been his mistake. He’d forgotten that when it came to him, his Daddy didn’t take the cheap route.

The suit was top-notch, cosplay worthy. It looked like the real deal. The armour was heavy and shiny, and the buttons worked, and one even let out smoke when pushed, and the cape was rich and airy, falling behind him dramatically.

The helmet was in the kitchen, but it fit his head perfectly, and came with a voice changing mod and it made his breathing loud and laboured. He adored it!

Standing up tall, Sly promised himself he was going to make all his Daddy’s hard work worth it — he was going to make sure he had the best birthday ever!