Mercury Eff

He didn't think he had been lying there for longer than a minute or two when he was stirred by persistent coughing. His cheek was pressed to the ground, and he was feeling dizzy. He looked up with difficulty and saw blood on the grass. His breathing had gotten worse again, even though it'd already settled since his tormentors had left. He was no expert, but something seemed to be wrong, and he was convinced that if he stayed here, he was just going to get weaker by a minute, until he finally clo

Being trapped in the trunk was rather dull. He got tired of screaming and struggling and eventually stilled, straining his ears and attempting to brainstorm. The only thing he heard was a running engine, and while the association used to be comforting, he was afraid it was going to change after this experience. He was weighing his options. There was no chance of getting out; otherwise, transporting victims of kidnapping in the trunk would have gone out of style a long time ago. He didn't know wh

Aleks got kidnapped! In case that wasn’t clear. Now I’m dreading that it wasn’t. Also, sorry for the cliffhanger!

If Aleks got his feet off the ground, he would have probably flown away. He listened to the applause and wasn't sure what to do next, so without much thought he jumped down, mingling with the crowd. Someone high-fived him. Someone gave him a clap on the back. It was very loud, maybe because ten different people were speaking to him at the same time. He wasn't able to focus on any of them. He felt high. Wait. He was high. He blinked, sobering up slightly, and glanced inquiringly at Sz

It wasn't like in the movies, that everything went still for a second that felt like years. Quite the opposite, there was no pause and even though his mum looked a bit dazed, she blinked and smiled only slightly forcibly. "Nice to meet you, Aleks," she said diplomatically. A well-bred lady would never lose her cool. She turned to glance at Maks, but her eyes focused somewhere near his forehead, not straight on his. "So what are you planning now, boys?" she asked casually. Maks gaped,

You'd be wrong to think that it's just a slapdash quiz taken in makeshift accommodations. Oh no. I'm standing on the set and I see how strong it is. The props are surprisingly precise. The machine rotating the stage has been around even longer. The farthest galaxies have been turned on. Oh no, there's no question, this must be the premiere. And whatever I do will become forever what I've done.(1) Shit, shit, shit. He had spent the majority of his life, except for the last two years, on the

@mikes2times, aww, thank you! I’m glad you enjoy it. I guess I will keep updating then

Maks had been standing at the door for the last fifteen minutes, unable to force himself to ring the bell. It wasn't the first time his hand reached out and his fingers froze in the middle of movement. He had to do this. There was no other way. It was surprising how scared he felt. Was it possible he was actually afraid of his fiancée? Of what she was going to say? He was definitely afraid of what she was going to do. She wasn't exactly volatile, but the risk was too great to underestimate

Since Aleks has holed up in his studio, he didn't want to leave at all. Ok, so far he's only spent a few hours here and hasn’t even recorded anything, he was too busy being amazed and pushing all the buttons. It was more of a dump than a studio, because all real studios were already occupied by real artists, but this dump was still the most professional recording place he'd ever set foot in, so he wasn't complaining. He couldn't stay here forever though, because there were still other

“Tell me something I don't know about you,” Maks asked, stretching lazily. He was too relaxed to even keep his eyes open. He felt the soft mattress under his back and Aleks's weight on his chest. There was nothing better. “What do you wanna hear?” Aleks mumbled sleepily. “Don't tell me what I wanna hear,” he protested. “Tell me... something about you. That you haven't told me before.” Aleks was silent for a long moment and Maks was almost convinced he'd fallen asleep when he sudde

Aleks felt he was going to lose it any time now. No, he wasn't mad at Maks, it wasn't his fault. It was his own fault, because he'd told him he needed to run just one little errand and then was coming home. That was an hour ago and Maks was getting impatient. 11:02 pm. From: Maks. How long it's going to take? 11:52 pm. From: Maks. Don't forget to buy butter. Aleks rolled his eyes. Butter. Right. He looked around suspiciously, but he was surrounded by dead silence. It had

@centexhairysub, thanks! Yes, Aleks seems to be certain that whatever happens, he's going to be able to swing it, which will probably blow up in his face sometime soon. As for Maks, he's pretty good at sitting back and pretending shit's not happening only so he doesn't have to deal with it (not a very commendable quality to have). You're right, he won't be able to indulge in that forever. Doesn't mean he won't try to postpone the come to Jesus moment as much as he can.

Aleks never used to stress out about things, but lately he'd been finding himself stressed out almost all the time. And while he had no problem walking into Partyka's club, cool-headed and stone-faced, with no idea what was awaiting him there, but knowing that whatever it was, he would handle it, now he was sweating so much his shirt was stuck to his back and his hand was actually trembling slightly when he put the pen down. He wiped the sweat off his brow and stood up. There was no point in sit

When Maks kissed Ewelina, he felt as if he was eating rubber. Not that he'd ever eaten rubber, but he could bet it would be the exact same feeling, as if he was chewing on something flavorless and with a consistency of rubber. It was uncomprehending how the mere fact that someone else – better? – showed up made a person he spent half of his life with almost repulsive. And it wasn't that Ewelina herself was repulsive, no, she was as pretty and smooth as always. But Aleks was prettier and smo

Maks usually regained consciousness slowly, he hated getting up too early and took 'five more minutes' as a gospel. This time he jolted awake abruptly. He must have been dreaming about something, he blinked dozily and managed to determine that it was already bright outside. Then he felt another body pressed against his under the sheets. It wasn't Ewelina, she didn't cuddle up to him during sleep. She also wasn't so... flat and didn't have anything that could be poking his tailbone. He turned his

@centexhairysub, yeah, they probably don’t. But who does?

“Ok, get lost,” Aleks laughed, pushing him away playfully and then standing back on his toes to kiss him chastely one last time. Wincent gave him a crooked smile. “Are you coming over after you get enough gayness from this place?” he asked. Aleks snorted. “We'll see,” he winked when they got on the street. Aleks waved before heading back to the club. Wincent followed him with his eyes for a moment and then went in the opposite direction. Aleks couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

@centexhairysub, I think that hiding is a result of a combination of circumstances and personality. Being out should be applauded, but I don’t think not being out should always be condemned. People are different, people are also often selfish and cowardly and there’s no point to pretend otherwise. Something completely incomprehensible for one person may seem as the only option to another, at least at the particular moment in their life. Makes me sad too, but people hiding is just a result. What’s sad is that they even feel the need to hide. Thanks for comments guys!

It had been three weeks. Three fucking weeks and not a word from Aleks. In theory Maks knew that last message was a goodbye. It wasn't that he'd expected to hear from him again, but... his absence in Maks's life was so striking it showed exactly how perfectly he'd managed to fit in it during that... moment, really. Aleks had been a part of his life for barely a moment and he'd dominated it like no one before him. And if Maks thought that with time he'd be able to just forget about him then he wo

Aleks didn't want to get back to reality, even though he was half-awake already. He tried to grasp the last of his dream, but it was already gone, all that was left was a strong, piercing longing and frustration. He couldn't remember what he dreamed about, but... “Who the fuck is Maks?” ...but apparently Maks was there. He opened his eyes abruptly and the first thing he saw was a grimace. They were lying face to face, Wincent's arm was still embracing him loosely in an almost tender wa

Yeah, I know it doesn't look very optimistic lately and it's gonna be sad for a little while longer... I think everything is repairable if everyone involved consider it worth repairing, people are just too stubborn too see it sometimes, so fingers crossed that they will get their acts together. Just hang on, things are going to lighten up a bit soon. Thank you for comments!

Maks made the first call around two pm, maybe an hour after Wiki left. All he got was voicemail. He tossed the phone on the table and went back to staring into space. He felt sick of sitting around and moping. He made the second call after four with a similar result. It was even kind of funny, because meanwhile Ewelina tried to call him four times, so Aleks was avoiding his calls and he was avoiding her calls. He would have turned his phone off, but what if Aleks called back? What a vicious

Thanks @Arch Hunter! Yes, Aleks’s motivation is not hard to guess, as for Maks... well, he’s not very bright when it comes to that and pretty good at danial. So it can take him a while.

Yes, coming to terms is not going to be easy and seeing that Maks is rather prudent, coming to terms is only going to be a first step on the way. And sure, the world looks a little different when you're a teenager, but at least from my experience it is more or less a representation of the youngest generation's attitude - at least in Warsaw. Of course it's quite a big generalisation, but teenagers these days are far from being a church-following bunch, so all hope in them.

Thank you @centexhairysub for your comment. That's a difficult topic you've just started. Yes, Poland is still very homophobic at the core and yes, it is mainly catholic church that is enforcing this narration. Though things are changing and especially the younger generations, that live in a more global world than our parents have, are not buying it anymore. And not only them, as you've mentioned, a lot of church's sins got out in the open recently and a lot of people is very pissed. While it's awful in itself, I like to think that it opened some kind of debate whether the version of morality the church is selling is the only one that should be followed. And on one hand even people who are criticizing the church as an institution, still consider its worldview mostly as their own, but on the other our government is very conservative and is sucking up to the catholic church a lot, and is also completely incompetent, which even their voters have to admit every once in a while. That's why even people that don't really care about minority rights can see that they're picking on already discriminated social groups to draw attention from their own failures, and it doesn't sit well with them. It gives me hope that one day my country will just wake up and realize that the world has changed and maybe that change isn't so bad, that we're in the central Europe and it's not middle ages anymore, so maybe it's about time to catch up a little. And leave church out of the matters of state, because it's not its role. But back to Maks's situation, yes, it's definitely more tempting to hide in the closet in Poland than in more tolerant countries, but overall I believe every coming out (even to yourself) takes lots of guts. I'm far from judging people who don't do that, but at the same time I greatly admire many people I know who did and are doing just fine, even in Poland. It's not a perfect world we live in, but we contribute to the world around us, so all we can do is to add our own brick and hope it helps.