A Foreign Realm (Mianite One-Shots)

Things are Going to be Okay (Synglington)

((Set in real time. James goes to i54 not knowing what or who to expect. He leaves with a little more than he intended.))

Welcome to i54

The large white banner stretched across the building, both advertising and welcoming the largest gaming event in the United Kingdom ever. James looked up at the large, bold letters and tried to ignore the mixture of anticipation, excitement, and fear that turned his stomach into a veritable mosh pit.

Why was he here again? He was a nobody. He had nothing. If it wasn't for the fact that Tom and the others were waiting on him, he wouldn't have set foot anywhere near the place.

If it wasn't for Tom... well, things would be a whole lot different if it wasn't for Tom. James' life and future had improved exponentially because of Tom's decision to let him continue to be a part of Mianite. He owed the slightly-older man a lot, that's for sure. That fact alone contributed a good dose of anxiety to his current emotional mess.

Add that to the fact that Tom hadn't said a word to him besides promising to 'hook him up' at the event, and James was even more fidgety than usual. He took a few deep breaths before stepping forward, into the building. Here goes nothing...

Almost immediately, he was swept up into the mass of chaos and humanity that pulsed and moved with the tides; first it was pulling him this way, then it abruptly shifted and pulled him in the other direction. If James had been lost before, it was nothing on how he was right now.

As he tried not to get forced into yet another partially-swarmed cubicle, he tried to keep half an eye out for a flash of blue hair, perhaps accompanied by a much taller man and a girl with long dark hair. It was harder than it seemed. After nearly an hour of looking, he had nearly given up. He'd been recognized by two people so far, neither of which he knew.

James rubbed the side of his neck, a common gesture for him when he was nervous. He glanced around at the crowd- most of which was younger than him- and sighed.

"James!" A feminine voice shouted above the dull roar of excited convention-goers. Immediately, he was on alert. Was someone looking for him? "James! Waglington! Over here!"

He began to shove through the crowd, searching for the source of the voice. After several minutes of struggle, he saw the girl with dyed-ginger hair waving at him excitedly. "Um, hello?" He asked.

"Hi! I'm Beth. Beth Freeman."

"Oh, you're the artist-"

"Yep, that's me! You looking for Tom?" James was both overwhelmed and intrigued by the energetic aura that surrounded Beth.

"Um, yeah. Kinda."

"His signing session is running long. He told me, and I decided to come find you. He wants you on stage for the Mianite question time and Hunger Games thing they're doing this afternoon. FyreUK is also invited, but I figured I'd give you a heads up in case Tom forgot to tell you about it."

"Tom hasn't told me anything." James replied, and Beth rolled her eyes.

"Damn that boy. He's so distractible, and forgets so easily. He didn't even text you in the first place?"

"I don't have his number."

Beth sighed. "I don't even pretend to understand how his mind works. Well, anyways, I found you. It should be an hour or two before you're needed at the main stage, wanna go hunt down some food?"

"Um... sure?"

* * * * *

An hour and a half later, James's heart was beating in his ears. He switched his weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting nervously as usual. A familiar voice reached his ears before Tom rounded the corner, one hand holding a camera and the other gesticulating wildly.

"And here we have the one, the only, Waglingtonnnnnn!" Tom shouted, giving James half a moment of oh shit before he was assaulted and roughly hugged by the extremely energetic man. After Tom had calmed down briefly, James got the chance to get a good look at him. Immediately, his already-pink face flushed brighter.

Oh no, he's cute.

Of course James had seen Tom before, in videos, but there was something about seeing him in person that completely outshone the person shown through the webcam. The man in front of him seemed so much more real, so much more personable.

After Tom put the blog camera away, he turned back to James with a grin on his face. "Hello there! I'm Tom." He held out a hand and after a half-second of confusion James shook it.

"Uh- hi, I- James Hayes. Nice to meet you." Already, he was cursing himself internally. Why did he have to loose his head now, of all times?

"You ready to go and answer some questions and kick some ass?" Tom asked, gesturing to the stairs up to the stage where others were just finishing up a presentation. "It'll just me at first, then I'll invite you guys on up. Don't hold your breath." He said, before vaulting up the stairs and emerging out onto the stage to loud applause from the crowd. He launched into a speech about something, and it was in a daze that James was called up onto stage.

His time up on the massive stage in front of the hundreds of people passed by him like a breeze. He barely registered the questions that were asked of him, and was far off his game when it came time to play hunger games. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before, yet when it came time to sleep that night he was restless and barely closed his eyes the entire night.

He was stressed out of his mind- he kept analyzing every single thing he'd said to the others, every thing that he had done wrong and how Tom was regretting ever inviting him to i54. He tossed and turned, restless and anxious. By the time the un came up he'd achieved nothing except for raising his stress level through the roof. He debated not going to the second day of the festival, but he knew that he would ruin everything if he bailed. They were expecting him.

* * * * *

Thankfully, James wasn't the only one dead on his feet the next day. All of the others seemed tired as well, whether it was from jet lag or sleep deprivation, or some combination of the two. When a private back room was offered for those related to the Mianite crew, they gladly accepted.

James settled down onto a couch, the exhaustion slowly overriding his nervousness until his eyes finally slid closed. He drifted in and out of a weird semi-conscious state, the voices and noises around him coming to him throughout a thick fog. He was aware of some brief laughter, then he briefly cracked open his eyelids as the couch beside him dipped with a sudden weight.

It was Tom, and James quickly pretended to be asleep again. It seemed Tom had a similar idea as he closed his eyes and leaned backwards. James drifted off once more, until a sudden pressure on his chest woke him ever so slightly. He was barely aware of the warmth that covered the lower portion of his body, or the weight that seemed to gravitate into him as he slept.

It was only when loud laughter pierced the semi-quietness that James jolted awake truly. His face must have turned a most interesting color when he realized that he was practically hugging a sleeping Tom to his chest. Sonja snickered loudly and Tucker snorted once they noticed he was awake. "James and To-om sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.." they taunted, and James's already pink face turned a darker shade of magenta.

Meanwhile, Tom began to stir. He mumbled something incoherent, squirming slightly and attempting to burrow into James's chest further. It took every ounce of willpower that James possessed to nudge Tom out of slumber.

With a yawn, Tom's eyes opened. The warm brown met James's blueish-green and widened as he shot straight up, his own face coloring a faint shade of pink. "Shit, dude, sorry- did I fall asleep on you?"

"Apparently." James replied, nervous as usual. "No worries, though- I don't mind."

"You sure? We're cool?"

"Guys, you've got to go onstage in ten minutes." One of the crew members announced. There was a mutter of agreement from those in the room and Tom got to his feet and stretched with a loud groan.

James stood up as well, feeling the anxiousness in his stomach dissipate slightly as he considered what had just happened. Surely if Tom felt that comfortable around him. Sleeping on top of someone was a sign of trust, right?

Maybe things were gonna be ok, after all.