It was bothering Keith. He'd met with a man who claimed to be the head of the Returners, after the man almost ran him over on a back street. The man had offered to let him try and join. It was his dream come true. He'd always wanted to join the Returners, ever since he heard of the rebel group that was trying to bring the world back to reality.
The Returners were dedicated to shutting down most of VR. They hated what humanity had become after retreating into the mostly imaginary world where everyone could be what they wanted to be. Only the rich could be real anymore, and the Returners saw this as an insult to the human race. So they wanted a return to reality.
Keith had always wanted to join them, ever since he heard of them when he was still in junior high. He'd wanted something like that before then as well, but he hadn't quite known what it was. And after he graduated, only two months ago, he'd started looking for people who could help him get in, only to find absolutely nothing. They were still a small group, and if you didn't know an actual member it was almost impossible to get in.
And then, that afternoon, Keith had almost been run over by one of the leaders of the group. The man had actually said that he thought Keith would be a good addition. He'd offered to let Keith interview with the other leader. It was a dream come true.
But something bothered him about the man. He'd expected someone a little older, maybe a little more distinguished looking. Not a man who looked like he was just out of college, with a slightly geeky aura to him. Not that he was bad looking. Au contraire, the man was quite attractive. And that didn't fit with Keith's image of the head of the Returners either. The head of the Returners was not supposed to be someone that Keith would lust after.
He seemed nice though. And he was cute, very cute. It was just in a geeky intellectual way. He looked intelligent, which Keith assumed he was, especially since he said he hunted hackers as well. That intelligence worked for him, combining with his youth to balance out and make him look both attractive and approachable, two things that Keith's preconceived image of the head of the Returners wasn't.
And the other thing that bothered Keith was that he didn't know the man's name. He'd agreed to meet with the man for lunch the next day, but he hadn't thought to ask his name. And the man had known his name, thought he was quite sure he hadn't mentioned it at all.
Not that any of that was going to ruin Keith's night off. It was the one night this week that he didn't have some sort of appointment, lesson, or meeting. And he was going to enjoy it, in the one place where he felt comfortable outside of his room
To be blunt, he was going out to a nightclub.
He did it every week. He always had Thursday nights off, and he was sure to arrange so that it stayed that way. Thursdays were his clubbing night. He didn't always go to the same club, but there was one that he went to much more often than any other one, and that was because the place just felt right to him.
Unfortunately, none of his friends, few as he had, could make it to the club that night. They were all busy, so he was left alone, with no one to share the excitement of being considered for a place in the Returners with. Out of boredom, he stopped dancing about an hour after arriving, and he sat down at the bar, watching the dancers for lack of anything better to do.
He didn't feel like socializing that night. He usually did. He wasn't the biggest people person in the world, but he wasn't a complete introvert either. And people were naturally drawn to him because he looked real, just as they were drawn to any other person who used his or her true appearance. But that night he was turning down people left and right, expressing his wish to just sit at the bar and watch the dancers.
And then something caught his eye. There was a tight knot of people on the other side of the dance floor from where he was at the bar, near the entrance. They all seemed to be trying to get at one person in the middle, a person who Keith couldn't see because there were too many people there, blocking his view. It was the sign of either an extremely attractive person, even more than most people could get with altering their appearance, a freak, or someone who looked real, just as he did.
In the first two cases Keith wouldn't give a damn about the person. Unlike most people, Keith found the heavily altered people to be quite disgusting. Most people couldn't tell how altered a person's appearance was, just whether it was altered or not. Keith could tell, and the more altered a person was the more turned off he was. And as for freaks… Well, Keith didn't like torturing people who were probably already quite sensitive about their appearance.
But if it was the third option, someone who used his or her true appearance… That would make it worth fighting his way into the crowd, even if the person turned out to be female. There weren't enough real looking people in VR, and any of them that Keith could find were worth it.
So he got up and made his way across the dance floor toward the knot of people. Despite the people packed onto the dance floor, he had no problem getting across. Because of his true appearance, people just moved for him, hoping that if they were polite he might notice them. Before long, Keith found himself at the edge of the knot of people.
These people weren't moving for him. They were all too eager to get into the middle, and to the person there. By that time Keith could see the person, and he could tell that it was the third case. The boy in the middle of the knot of people was using his true appearance, and he was very good looking with it too.
Oh yes, he was very good looking. The boy, or rather young man, since now that Keith looked at him more closely he could tell he was somewhere around sixteen, though he looked at least two or three years younger at first glance, was short, and quite slender, with a skinniness that hinted at not having enough to eat, but not quite. He had tanned skin, marred by more than a few scars that didn't detract from his looks in the slightest, that told of much time outside.
His hair was bright red, and grown down past his butt. It was pulled back in a thick braid, which the young man was clutching possessively, with a look of terror on his face. His eyes were large, and bright grass green, filled with fear at the people surrounding him at the moment. He had freckles splashed across his face, which lightened the scars slightly, making him look a little less tough and a little more innocent.
He didn't look feminine at all, despite his small size and his youth. And that long, long hair of his. Rather, he looked right, and real. And Keith knew at that moment that he wanted to at least get to know this beauty, though he would actually have preferred much more than that. Yes, he'd like much, much more than just getting to know this kid.
But, first things first, he needed to get the kid out of the middle of the knot of people. They were scaring him out of his mind. He looked like he didn't get around large groups of people often, which made Keith wonder what he was doing in the club in the first place. But whatever reason he had, he wasn't ready to deal with many horny, drugged or drunk adorers who only wanted him for his reality.
So Keith started to push his way through the crowd. It was hard, of course. He wasn't huge, and some of the people in the crowd were. And they didn't want to be pushed. They all wanted at the kid. This made Keith have to resort to some rather underhanded tricks, such as kicking and punching. It worked though, and after a short while he found himself in front of the trembling kid.
"Hey," he said easily, but softly, trying not to upset the kid any more than he already was. "You look like you've gotten yourself in above your head."
To his surprise, the kid swallowed his fear and glared at him angrily. The kid was even cuter when he was angry, because his eyes seemed to light up from within. It made Keith wonder if the same thing happened when the kid was happy, or excited.
"I'm fine!" the kid snapped. "I can take care of myself!"
"Relax!" Keith exclaimed. "I was just trying to be nice. I know what it's like to have them surrounding me too, and I thought it looked like you aren't used to crowds."
"I can still take care of myself!" the kid exclaimed indignantly.
"I believe you," Keith said. "But don't you think we could spend some time together anyway? They're bugging me more than usual tonight, and I'd like some good company. And besides, we real people have to stick together, right?"
The kid looked at him suspiciously. Keith could almost feel his eyes roaming up and down his body, assessing what he saw. From what Keith could see of the kid, he was a street rat, the kind of kid who grew up all on his own and was used to fighting to survive. He probably didn't trust people with money, and Keith was just well dressed enough that he looked like he had money. But he also looked real, which could, at times, be more important than how much one's clothing cost, especially since if one was really desperate, expensive clothing could be faked, with a little imagination.
The kid continued to evaluate him for a while, which made Keith nervous. The crowd had settled a little when he'd started talking to the kid, but they were starting to get restless again. He had the feeling that they were going to try rushing the two of them soon, and he didn't want to be there when that happened. And it would happen if the kid didn't make a decision soon.
Luckily for him, the kid sighed and nodded his head before the crowd rushed. Relieved, Keith grabbed the kid's hand and pulled him through the crowd and to the door. He rushed out the door, kid in tow, just as the shout arose within the club that they were getting away. Together, they hid in an alley near the club, but dark enough that no one would see them in it.
"What do you think you're doing?" the kid exclaimed angrily, and Keith shushed him. The kid glowered, but tried again, quietly this time. "What the hell are you doing, grabbing me like that? I paid good money to get in that club!"
"Would you rather be swamped by twenty or more drunk, and possibly drugged, horny men and women?" Keith asked. "Because if you had stayed in there that's what would have happened. You're real looking, young, and cute. And you're unfamiliar. They like that."
"They weren't bothering you," the kid muttered darkly.
"That's because I'm a regular," Keith said. "They know me. I'm no longer that much of a novelty to them, so they aren't as interested."
Just as he finished saying that he heard voices outside of the alley. He motioned for the kid to be quiet, and they sat in silence in the darkness as the mob of angry, drunken people from the club passed by without noticing them. Keith leaned against the wall and slid down it partway with a sigh. The kid stared at him, eyes wide.
"You really that scared of them?" the kid asked.
"Considering that there are many more of them than there are of us, yes," Keith said. "Add to that the fact that neither of us is particularly big, and some of them are and that would be a hell yes."
"I could take them," the kid said darkly.
"Sure you could," Keith said, laughing a little. "And this is the real world."
"I wish," the kid muttered. "That seems a lot better than this does."
"Listen, why don't you cheer up a little," Keith suggested. "After all, you got out of there without being raped, which surprises me, considering how pretty you are and how gone they all were."
"I'm not pretty!" the kid exclaimed, and Keith laughed.
"Yes you are," he said, only to get another glare from the kid, followed by a lasting glowering expression. "Anyway, you wanna go somewhere else? Maybe somewhere where the people aren't quite as drunk and violent? I'll pay your way, to make up for making you waste your money with the last place."
"Why should I go anywhere with you?" the kid asked.
"How about because you're safer with someone else?" Keith said lightly. "If you show up somewhere with another person people will assume you're taken, and they won't be as likely to try and get in your pants. That, and I'd like some company. I wasn't feeling companionable earlier, but now I could use someone to talk to. And, as I said before, we real people have to stick together, right?"
"I guess it can't hurt that much…" the kid said hesitantly. "And I really did want to see a club tonight."
"Then it's settled," Keith said. "I'll take you somewhere a little less rowdy, and we'll have a good time there. I promise. Oh, and by the way, my name's Keith. What's yours?"
"Nathan," the kid said.
"It's nice to meet you Nathan," Keith said. "Come on. I know a great place that isn't too far. The owner doesn't allow anything like what happened in the last club, so you don't have to worry about that. And even so, everyone will think you're my date."
"Your date?" Nathan squeaked, all of his "tough guy" appearance melting away with that one utterance. "I don't wanna be your date!"
"Relax, just because they think that doesn't mean it's true," Keith said.
"I don't think I wanna do this…" Nathan said.
"I won't hurt you," Keith said softly. "I just want to spend some time with you, that's all. It's not everyday that I get to spend my time with a cute guy like you."
Nathan blushed inadvertently at the compliment. Then he realized exactly who was saying that to him, and he blushed even harder, but a look of anger clouded his face. Keith wondered if maybe he should be toning down the flirting a little. It wouldn't do to drive Nathan off before he could even get a single date. And he seemed to be a little afraid of the attention.
Before Nathan could protest more, Keith took his arm and started leading him toward the club he had mentioned before. Even if he should be laying off on the flirting, he wanted to do so inside, not in an alley. That, and maybe Nathan would loosen up a little in somewhere a little more hospitable. After all, he seemed to want to go to a club.
"So, what brought you into that club in the first place?" he said lightly once they were settled with drinks in the club. Keith was planning on buying Nathan a drink, since he had wasted Nathan's money to get into the first club, but the boy had insisted on paying for himself. He had a surprising amount of money for the street rat that he looked like. "You don't look like you usually have the kind of money for that."
"I got lucky this afternoon," Nathan said. "Some lady gave me a lot of money. I decided I wanted to try going to a club. Why do you care?"
"As I said earlier," Keith said. "We real people have to stick together. That, and you're cute."
This earned another blush from Nathan, as well as a splutter. Keith mentally hit himself over the head. He was supposed to be toning down the flirting, not hitting Nathan over the head with the fact that he though he was cute. After all, Nathan looked uncomfortable enough in the slightly dark, noisy atmosphere of the club.
The rest of the night went much like that as well. Keith didn't leave Nathan's side, which actually seemed to make the boy calmer. The one time Keith did leave, to go get another drink, Nathan looked panicked when he returned to the table, even though there wasn't anyone trying hit on him.
He also managed to keep from scaring the boy away. They just talked, and Keith learned more about life on the street than he'd ever imagined he'd know. As the night went on Nathan seemed to relax more too, which seemed to be a good sign. Finally, at about 1 am, Keith decided it was time to call it a night.
It was still early, but he had his meeting with the head of the Returners the next morning. That, and Nathan seemed to have had a little too much to drink. He was hoping that if he told Nathan he was leaving the boy would decide to leave as well. He didn't want to find out that Nathan had gotten himself into trouble because he was drunk.
"I think I'm going to leave now," he said to Nathan, which immediately earned him a panicked look. "It's getting late, and I have things to do in the morning. Do you want to get together again sometime?"
"That'd be great," Nathan said.
"Great," Keith said enthusiastically. "I don't have any free nights until next Thursday. How about then?"
"Uh, I'm busy then," Nathan said.
"Damn," Keith said, thinking through his schedule to see when his next available night was. "How about a week from Saturday then? Is that good?"
"Yeah," Nathan said. "That's good for me."
"Great," Keith said. "How about I meet you outside of this club then. Say, around six?"
Nathan nodded, and Keith cheered inside. Even though Nathan seemed a little shy, he hadn't actually given any signs that he didn't want Keith to flirt, which was a good thing. And now they had another night together planned, which was even better.
He said good bye to Nathan and left the club. He was glad to see Nathan exit the building not too long after he did as well. With happy thoughts of a cute guy in mind, he headed home for some sleep. All in all, it had been a really good day.