WILD ( freddie mercury. )

TWENTY-ONE - THE NAME OF THE GAME

★彡 TWENTY-ONE 彡★

THE FAINT SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS gliding across the corridor alerted Freddie and he straightened up. Heart racing significantly fast, his hand reached over to pet Delilah, who was peacefully sleeping at his lap and waited for the inevitable knock on the door. And it happened, a soft thumping sound resonated throughout his spacious room and only did it stop a few seconds after. A very familiar voice —that he's been longing to hear for years, even as much as he tried to deny it— asked, "F-Freddie?" The stutter was palpable and Freddie's heart hammering increased, if that was even possible. His mind was torn in between rejecting the man from entering or allowing Elijah to come inside. It seemed that the latter won because Freddie's body appeared to move on its own and before he could even speak up, his hand rose and opened the door. He had to resist the urge to let out tears of joy when he saw the male looking at him in hope. There was something else in his eyes that Freddie couldn't discern however he won't dwell on that for the meantime. This was a chance for him to speak in private with Elijah, and he was not ruining that opportunity, no matter how aloof he was acting.

It was hypocritical of him, he had to admit that. Hugging Elijah and promptly ignoring him afterwards was incredibly stupid. And he was starting to feel the rush of regret throughout his whole body, chilling him to the bones. Freddie blinked his eyes momentarily and coughed to hide the embarrassment of being caught staring at Elijah by the man himself, he was unable to keep the shakiness out of his voice when he questioned, "Yes, Elijah?" and ultimately cringed internally at how cold he sounded. It felt different calling Elijah by his name and not by his petnames— darling, dear, my love—. He noted the way Elijah's hand clenched and unclenched tensely, "Can we talk?"

Curiosity overpowered the voice inside his head screaming that he should decline and slam the door in front of Elijah, so without uttering any word, he opened the door widely, giving an impression of agreeing to what Elijah said despite remaining silent. The man subtly glanced at his shaky hands, not knowing that both their hearts were pounding in trepidation. He hesitatingly went inside and Freddie locked the door behind them, he concealed his unsettled expression with a forced smile and stated, "I don't really have any water or alcohol here since they're all at the kitchen," Freddie trailed off awkwardly and Elijah quickly replied, "Oh no, it's fine. I've drank enough to keep myself hydrated, you've got a big house here though. It's nice."

I've bought this house for you. Freddie thought but kept silent, not wanting to make the man uncomfortable. He plopped down the chair besides his bed delicately, trying to fight the urge to run away from the confrontation he knew was about to happen. He scoffed at himself before shaking his head, not noticing the concerned look at Elijah's face as he sat dow the chair in front of Freddie. The uneasy atmosphere did nothing to soothe Freddie's nerves as they went haywire, the awkwardness was noticeable as the both of them refused to speak first until he finally couldn't take it, "So, what do you want to talk about, Elijah?"