brunch club >> pietro&julianblitz

[Deleted]

julian .

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Truth be told, Julian was freezing. They had a terrible habit of showing up to plans early, and had already begun exhausting all options of entertaining themselves rather quickly. Thirty minutes of being alone on the rooftop garden and they had already paced the perimeter, fidgeted with their rings, brushed their gorgeous, gorgeous hair and took some flattering self portraits. What more is there for an entity to do, really? 

"Hm hm hm- oh!" Their humming interrupted with the presence of, "Pietro! Greetings," Julian says with a wave. They weren't the closest of friends, but Pietro always stood out in a crowd and they needed more friends than just their roommates. Before making any plans, they consulted their cards for a solid hour and a half just to see if they were compatible to begin with. 

Nine of Cups in reverse? Sure, why not! 

"I was going to invite you to a library but I didn't know if you knew how to read, so," they say, while sorting through their unicorn-weed tote bag. "Gum? Tea?" Julian offers, pulling both out of their bag. 

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P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

Usually I just show up and that's how I exist in spaces.

There's not normally an invite but I don't think most people know where to send one anyway, not like I have a mailbox. Maybe I should get one, or just designate Kyle's as mine too, I don't think he'll mind, much.

It's kind of lucky that Julien found me, though I bet they'd call it fated. The path is always written for Jules, whether it's in the stars or their cards. I don't know how to read those pretty pictures though, I don't think I'd ever want to. I like my life being predictable in its unpredictability. It'd be sad if I always knew what was going to happen.

I wonder if it was in Julien's cards that I'd be late. I don't know how that happens, I always have the intention of showing up on time but there's always something. This time it's my hands shaking from nerves and I have to medicate a little with the valium I stole from the medicine cabinet at the birthday party I worked on Tuesday.

I think it was Tuesday at least.

Dunno, and then I take the stairs up to the roof top because elevators make me feel strange but not in a way I like. Part of me always thinks that the cables will snap, just for me. I like the ache in my calves and the way my breath huffs from climbing too many stairs because I smoke too much anyway.

But when I get to the roof I'm a little sweaty and Julian looks like they were waiting for forever and there's the shame again, the little twinges of guilt I get sometimes when I disappoint another friend and I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from pouting.

Julian is a pretty thing, I think they know that. I stand there for a moment and stare at them standing amongst the evergreen plants on the rooftop garden. They breathe around them, in and out, slowly reaching, branches extending to hold them and root them for forever.

"I know how to read," I tell Julian, "But I'm not allowed at the library anymore."

They reach into their bag and offer me some gum or some tea so I reach into my sling bag and pull out a little plastic baggy of mushrooms and then a slightly squashed pack of pre-rolls.

"Which one did you want?" I ask them. Usually people only ever want to meet to get high and I don't mind that. I like inviting my friends into my world, to let them experience it the way that I do. "We could brew these into the tea f you want?" I raise the baggy and shake it a little, and the dried shrooms dance happily, little flakes falling off from the movement.

[Deleted]

julian .

---

I try not to look at his sweat directly, that is very rude. "How does one get banned from a library?" What's the worst you can get into at a library of all places? Can't help and chuckle, but I stop my laughing when Pietro pulls out his stash. "Now you're speaking my language!" 

Pietro was a cute one. For someone so expressive, he always knew how to hide what he really felt. It's like watching a fish under water - once they know you're watching, the show's over with. Other than that, I don't feel like I know him too well. Maybe that means I'm simply close enough. I should have guessed the clown was a stoner just like I am, but I can't lie and say it didn't catch me off guard.

"Which one did you want?"

"Both?" I say, with a cocky grin. "We can share a cone while it steeps. If I knew we were dosing up I would have brought something more your caliber," noted for next time. "I brought, uh," I trail off while digging through my tote. Such a mess, chronically. "Incense? Oh, and a lighter!" 

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P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

I decide not tell Julian that the reason I'm banned from the library is because I found this weird book on one of the stacks by this man who believed there were some people who should be killed just for being alive. I put it in a bathroom trash can and lit it on fire but that set off the sprinklers and the boy's room flooded. Now there's a photo of me behind the desk and I'm not allowed in anymore.

And that's too bad because the library was a good warm place to hang out in during the winter. I used to hole up in there for hours, tucked away in one of the reading nooks.

"Oh you know," I say and shrug, gaze running up to the clouds above us, "I got caught smoking leaf in the self-help section." That sounds a little cooler, right?

Julian chooses both and I'm not the type to say no to that. Mixing drugs is basically just like drinking a cocktail, I think. "'K," I say and reach for the thermos they took out when they offered me tea. Steam rises when I open the lid, it smells like chai, "Nice," I say with a smile and empty all of the mushrooms into it.

I watch them dig around a little bit more and while they do that, I light up one of my rollups, not ever one to be ceremonius about indulging.

"Yeah, light it up!" I say and pump a fist into the air. I like incense, I think, even though I don't really know what it's supposed to do other than smell nice. I just like to get excited about tiny things because life is pretty that way.

"You ever notice how incense looks like those cookie sticks?" I ask and pass them the joint.

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julian .

---

I keep my eyes on the incense stick as I light it, listening to Pietro's story. He always winds up in the strangest of situations - I must know his Mars sign immediately. 

"Well, that's silly," I say, hardly masking a laugh. "You were simply helping yourself, at least you were in the right section." Who can blame him? If it's any consolation, I may not be banned but with my library fines being higher than my rent I might as well be. I can't help being such a slow reader, okay. 

As he's getting all the magic together, I'm just patting my hands on my thighs impatiently. I'm breaking my tolerance break for this, only hope it doesn't break me back. He says something so dumb I struggle to process it, but it's followed by a blunt so I just nod my head along and breathe in. And of course, it's good. Used to loathe the smell, but it's grown on me rather fondly.

"So," I clear my throat before continuing, "what kind of trip is that going to take me on?" Mushrooms are an entire new frontier, and Pietro as a trip-sitter sounds somewhat terrifying if not very entertaining. "I'm not going to astral project or anything, am I?"

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

They don't ask me any follow up questions about how I found out incense sticks aren't really long cookies and I think that's probably a good idea. I definitely ate a whole vanilla cinnamon stick once before I found out that it wasn't really edible and you might be wondering how that could happen.

But I blame the acid.

I close the thermos up and swirl the mushrooms around in the tea. It's got to steep for at least twenty minutes but usually I'm only patient enough to wait for five. Sometimes I don't even wait at all though and I just swallow them down dry so that's pretty good.

Life is a little hard when you're constantly trying to stay a step ahead of your own thoughts, it all moves pretty fast. According to a lot of people, I'm what they would consider slow. That's good though I think. It's easy to outrun slow things.

"Ummm," I say and turn the thermos over in my hands, "It's like, imagine you're a tiny bug but your'e okay with it?" I help myself back to the blunt and the feeling is already settling quick like a heavy blanket over all the other things in my system. Then I have to stop and wonder if mixing valium, weed and mushrooms is a good idea.

"It's like, you're just a tiny piece of everything, you know? No worries," I continue, just letting words tumble out as my brain drips them out, "And it can be sort of overwhelming but only if you have too much."

I look down at the thermos. How many grams did I just empty into it and what's too many for a beginner?

"I'll take care of you," I decide, "I'll take care of you, and we'll have fun."

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julian .

---

Always hate choking on my smoke, it's so embarrassing. I didn't mean to take as big a second puff as I did, and I cough so hard I have to shut my eyes for a second. Even with my eyes closed I still see stars pirouetting the empty space. I just hold that stance for a second until I catch up to what's going on in my body, "damn." 

I'm not weak, I swear - don't look at me like that! 

Pietro starts talking about bugs as I pass the blunt and I start feeling ants in my arm hair and in my socks. "A tiny piece of everything?" I'm squinting in the sunlight and Pietro is so bright, "sounds beautiful, I'm in. If I was a bug, I'd be a rolly polly-" what am I talking about? Shut up and be cool. I get nervous as he examines the mud water, am I really going to do this? 

But, on the bright side, he definitely knows what he's doing. If there's anyone to introduce me to shrooms, it'd be Pietro, right? And what's the worst that can happen, really. "I'll take your word for it," I say, happy to find some reassurance. Just have fun dude, find your inner peace in the cosmos and all that. "We should probably go to the park or something though, right? I don't know where's best to trip balls."

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

"Hey, don't worry my liege," I laugh a little and slap Julian on the back as they cough their last drag out, "Coughing makes you higher, maybe." At least, that's what everyone says. I don't know if it's true or not because I haven't had a tolerance break in a very very very long time and when I'm sick and coughing I'm always high anyway.

"Liege means like, royalty by the way," I add after a pause. I don't want Julian to think I'm insulting them, I just want to make sure that, "I see you, I value your identity." I pat them on the back a couple more times for good measure. It's important to speak to your friends kindly because in the self-help section I learned that tone and words matter a lot.

Guess that explains a lot about me and the things I hear in my head, it's not half as nice as I am in there.

"Tiny piece of everything, like... sort of like you're just one stroke in a pattern," I try explaining again. It's not really something that you can get until you're experiencing it though. "You'll see," I tell them with a nod.

Then Julian brings up the park and I blink. Maybe they're gonna think I'm weird for being too scared to take an elevator. "Yeah but," I start, "you gotta work your body to get the mushrooms moving around in there, so we're gonna have to run down the stairs," I lie, pretty soundly I think.

[Deleted]

julian .

---

It's like Pietro patting my back makes me cough more. I find my balance though, and a few seconds later I find the cone in between my fingers once again. Delicious! This wasn't the green I expected to be surrounded by when I came to a garden, but fate has a funny way of working out. I've been manifesting more good times, so who am I to turn anything down? 

"Wow, you're so real," liege is a great term. I have to admit, I feel a little seen. Puff, puff, pass and all that. Everyone's gender adventure is so different, I can't explain mine myself so I'll gladly accept liege. "You know, some people think you're just a clown but you're actually really smart," not all the time, but sometimes his nonsense strikes gold. 

But then Pietro keeps talking, and it gets worse. 

I'm cold, I'm a little confused, and I already feel the munchies coming on. "Wait, what? Since when are mushrooms motion activated?" So I'm not the mycologist here, but two plus two isn't equaling four. I hit him with some side eye before glancing around the rooftop, who do I look like running? Still, I blow out the incense, shake out the ash and pack up my tote bag nice and neat. 

"And could we pick up a snack? Tripping on an empty stomach, I might just eat you whole."

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

"Oh no, they don't believe me," I tell Julian.

Wait, they're Julian.

There goes the 'smart' compliment, I watch it literally go up in a puff of smoke.

I buy time by opening the thermos and pouring out half the tea into the little lid cup thing, you know, the one that thermos' have. "Um, got a fork or something?" I ask but then I just reach in there because my hands are slim and pull a few of the caps out and toss them back. They're slimy in the back of my throat, and I have to swallow hard to get them down, my face nearly goes pink from the effort.

"Here, drink this," I say and shove the cup into Julian's hands. "The tea's better than chewing, trust me!"

Then I throw the rest of the tea back and kick my feet around and pat my chest pocket like I'm doing a bit and there's even anything in there. I'm trying out a hundred ways to distract them, I'll just go with what sticks.

Luckily, Julian's already talking about snacks. My shoulders say goodbye to my ears as I relax the littlest bit. Maybe that means I'm in the clear? I dunno. There's this funny drumming feeling under my skin and my heart is racing and i can feel tears pricking the back of my eyes like little needles.

"I think, um," I say and blink up at the sky a bit until the feeling goes away, "There's that hotdog stand at the beach?"

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julian .

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Wow... how high am I? Am I losing it? For a second I just try to name the different plants around us, focus on something tedious while I hit this blunt one more time. Spending time with Pietro hurts my brain. I'm inhaling as he asks for a fork, so I start digging in my bag before blowing smoke into it. Each subsequent cough comes with its own puff cloud, and I think my eyes are watering when I look up at Pietro downing some toadstool. 

"Here, drink this."

"Oh, it smells so strange."

Drinking is better than chewing and I try not to digest the smell as I take a full gulp. It honestly doesn't taste terribly, but I got a mushroom piece stuck on my tooth. There's an earthy after taste I didn't quite enjoy, but I swear when I look back at Pietro as he talks, he looks close to tears as well. What is going on? 

I start putting my hair up though with the thought of a fat, greasy vegan dog. "We aren't that far from the beach, it wouldn't be a bad run," it's bound to be even colder there than the rooftop though. Before we go, I take another swig of the mudwater, swishing it around my mouth before swallowing. It really isn't that bad, I've had worse kombuchas. 

"Race?"

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

"Tastes strange too!" you offer as encouragement.

Actually I said that, you're not even here. I'm getting myself really mixed up, this isn't all that good. My heart's beating a lot though, like I think more times than it's meant to in a minute. I think valium's a downer and i don't know about weed but shrooms does get the old heart pumping. Maybe it'll all settle in a moment if i just hold onto the floor for a second.

I kneel down and keep the tiles on the rooftop in place because they're for sure trying to get up and walk away. And my sister gets up and walks away. And then Julian is pulling their hair up for twenty minutes, "What?" I ask them at the same time they're talking about the hot dogs.

"It wouldn't be a bad run," they say and I think I'm going to cry out of pure relief and joy that there's someone in my life who'll just let me hide all of my dirty little secrets under the roof tiles without looking at me too funny. "Just down the stairs," I say with a serious little nod, except I'm a clown and my nose falls off my face and everyone is laughing at me.

Except it's just a laugh track.

Then I grab my shoelaces and pretend that I was never worried about the roof tiles at all and all I was trying to do was make sure that my laces were tight for the race. Except then I notice my socks are two different colours but I don't remember putting socks on today?

Julian's looking at me. So I push myself to my feet and I smile at them really big and I laugh and my teeth are part of my face.

"Ready?" I ask.

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julian .

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"Ready?"

Forgot he was there for a second. When I stand, I feel my brain fall to my ankles and the world topple over- lightheaded doesn't even describe it. I lean and lean and lean for a second before snapping to and straightening up, don't want to look like I'm bugging out. My hands feel so hairy, and so do my lips. Wow, have there always been this many plants up here? I really don't know much about plants, that guy is an Elephant's Foot I think. 

Oh, right, Pietro. His hair is always so messy, I would be bothered. "Always!" I say, lining up my starting position next to his. I tighten my tote bag strap around my midriff as much as I can, I feel kind of snatched. Pietro counts us down - I didn't know if we were going on 1 or Go! so I just went early. Hope that's okay! 

It takes a second to get my sea legs but I still take the steps two at a time. I take one bad step and my ankle buckles, my only reaction being to grab onto Pietro to save myself. 

_KQruoy_CX1-20

I almst topple over the both of us but it's fiiine. The railing saves the day as I catch myself, "I nearly died, dude!" And I nearly took him out with me, that would have been embarrassing. All I can really do is try to catch up and not pay attention to the spiders on the wall. I don't like the way they look at me, oh not at all. 

1-20

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

P I E T R O  B A B I N E A U X

"Always," Julian tells me and it sounds like a promise so I decide that it is. I don't get very man of those so I take it and I mime opening up a little chest because that's how I get to my promise storage. I am a clown.

Then Julian's running so then I'm running and then he's falling so I'm falling but then we're back up together, wow. I stare down the centre of the stair well, "Hey Julian, if we went down the middle then we could go so fast?" I tell them but they're almost a floor ahead of me now and their shoes are loud on the cement, clip-clopping like a horse and I don't think that they heard me.

It's probably a good thing, I think I said something wrong again.

My legs are sort of like jello and I grab onto the railing so I can just use my arms to pull myself down and I kind of want to say something but I'm not so certain that I'll get to the park. The railing is warping beneath my hand, breathing like a snake and i don't know when I started running again but I'm going too fast, there aren't enough stairs for this.

wUYiM7JkiP1-20

And then I'm passing Julian somehow through the power of being extremely high and I'm grabbing their hand and it's like we're the same person, the same little pattern piece.

"Come on, we're fast," you tell them.

Affirmations, they're so important.

1-20

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julian .

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"Hey-! I should've expected him to pass me up, I'm tripping over my own legs here. He takes my hand though, and he tells me I'm fast so suddenly I am. How does that work? Pietro is faster than I gave him credit for. We're practically gliding down the stairs and by the time we hit the bottom, I'm completely out of breath. Hunched over, hands on my knees, trying to gasp as much air into my lungs as I can catch with a wide net.

Once I find myself, the room spins a bit and I'm a sexy little disco ball. The tacky wallpaper pattern is speaking to me in languages once unknown to man - I should really call my mother. I see Tia's face in the floral and she's laughing at me! So rude, to think I hexed her ex with athlete's foot just for this treatment. I look over to Pietro and I'm overtaken by how badly I want to start sobbing right now. I don't need to, I just feel an innate urge. 

Bad vibes.

"Well there's my cardio for the day," let's never do that again. Ew, why is cinnamon gum so atrocious; I feel like my tongue is swollen. I straighten my bag again before exiting the stairwell, holding Pietro's hand again as I guide us through the jungle of Clement Nursery. The bottom floor is full of monstera and snakeplants, gorgeous gorgeous girls. There's a minute where I'm struggling to pull the push door, but I think it was just trying to stop me from going back out in the cold. 

The sun's inviting enough, my cheeks still warm from blood flow. "I-" woah, how'd I get here? Man, the sun's so bright. I can feel myself melting away. Soon enough I'll just be a gay soup; the hell am I talking about? "How are you holding up, you good?" I say, letting go of Pietro's hand. 

"I'm like, really good." I say, giving him a weird look and taking a step away from him.

"Like, TOO good." I say, in a hushed voice.