Aces Wild (House of Cards Ser...

Grace tried to ignore how her gut felt like a million swarming bees had set up residence, finding it distinctly unfair that everyone else got butterflies and instead she got pests. It wasn't that she was unused to her best friend Nate climbing in through her window, it was the fact that he was acting different today than she'd seen him ever be. It threw her off and Grace was not one of those people who reacted well to change. She liked things as they were and figured it was safer to stick with the devil you knew than the one you didn't. Mostly because the last time Nathaniel Spade Vega had changed, he'd moved away from his parent's house to go to college and that had almost ended their life long friendship. There might have been some foolhardy actions on her own part mixed in to that as well, but Grace wasn't one for hanging on to the bad memories. Just the ones that were good life lessons. Like never flushing the coke of a drug dealer who has you locked in a room while you're drunk...

Her internal fret fest was cut short when Nate popped his head up over the window sill and he slid himself into her room smoothly. At least this time he had all his own clothes on and a bag with him to boot. It wasn’t often that Nate packed an overnight bag to crash in Grace’s room, he normally just slept in his boxers. In fact, the last time he’s brought pajamas with him, he’d still been a virgin. It made Grace wonder just how bleak his mental landscape was lately.

“I’ll go get the hot chocolate, you get comfortable.” Grace said and stood up. She made it two hobbling pain filled steps before Nate unceremoniously threw her over his shoulder and set her back on the bed.

“Idiot.” He muttered at her, a smile flashing across his face briefly. “If I send you for hot chocolate with a gimpy leg you’ll come back with burn scars and a broken ankle. Why don’t I get the hot chocolate, you get this place ready for a pow ow?” His tone made it a suggestion because Nate had long ago learned not to order Grace around. She knew she was stubborn and it was through the grace of god that her best friend happened to be laid back. Or else neither one of them would have survived puberty.

“I hate this.” Grace growled out anyways, detesting feeling like an invalid. Considering how often she was injured, she should have gotten used to it by now but it still rankled her pride.

“You hate having a hot man-slave waiting eagerly to dote on you? Gee, you’re so hard done to Graceless…” Nate mocked with a quirky grin and headed out before she could throw something at him. At least he was smiling again, but Grace had the feeling that he wasn’t as cheery as he was pretending to be.

But since the entire point of this little get together tonight was to get to the bottom of Nate’s unusually somber behavior lately, Grace simply focused on getting her room ready for the pow ow. It wasn’t as ritualistic as it sounded, instead she simply set the bed up so they could both sleep in it, and pulled out the floor cushion so they could lounge on the ground in comfort while they got to the heart of the issue. And Grace felt monumentally girly as she pulled out a box of candies for them to munch on for however long they were awake. Despite the fact that Nate had to work the next day, she knew he’d stay awake long past the time she passed out. Sadly because she was having trouble maneuvering with her swollen and very tender ankle, Nate made it back upstairs only a few short moments after Grace tripped over herself and landed in a sprawl. He walked in to see her pretty much spread eagle with half a bag of skittles  scattered all over herself like cheap jewelry.

“Well if you insist…” Nate said with a shrug and set the mugs of steaming hot chocolate down. Grace gaped at him and then started to try and smother her laughter as he bent over  and in quick succession sucked each skittle up off of her without using his hands. He managed not to slobber on her either which she greatly appreciated because that would have just been gross. “That actually hurt…” Nate groaned as he righted himself up, chewing on the mouthful of skittles. It was only long time association that let Grace understand him around a mouthful of candy, it sounded more like ‘Haf turry gurt.’ His hand gingerly held his bashed nose and Grace felt her laughter ease off as the guilt returned.

“Sit down before you hurt yourself more then, Nitwit.” Grace said, shoving his calf gently since she couldn’t punch him in the shoulder. She finally righted her own self and they sat next to each other, leaning back against the side of her bed. Nate just ate candy in silence, keeping his mouth full so he wouldn’t have to answer the questions Grace was ready to throw at him.

It was a delaying tactic that she would only let him get away with for so long. Nathaniel was weird that way, he was open and easy going about pretty much everything (even though he did have a temper that was on par with his father’s), but there were times Grace had to drag things out of him. Not because he didn’t want to share with her, but because he didn’t know how to express the things swirling around in his head. It was like Grace acted as her best friend’s translator. Only instead of helping him speak from one language to another, she helped him speak to himself. “So you’re not going to the Fall Ball. And you’re only telling me about this AFTER I got the costumes ready…” Grace started, about as tactful as a rampaging bull in a china shop.

“Can’t you just dress your date Colby up in mine?” Nate asked, and Grace felt her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline at the snarl hidden in her best friend’s tone.

“Woah, you REALLY don’t like that guy huh?” Grace asked, already knowing the answer but surprised at the blatant animosity.

Nate didn’t answer; instead he tore into one of the licorice sticks with unnecessary savagery. This was one of those moments Grace instinctively knew to keep her mouth shut and wait him out. It was hard because she wanted to prod him into speaking already but every now and again her lack of patience was a downfall and Nate was just acting oddly enough that she didn’t want to risk fallout like what had happened earlier this year. Their friendship had nearly ended when she started dating a guy who was every kind of wrong and Nate fought with her about it. It was her own damn fault what had happened after that and their friendship was patched up since then, but there were days like today where she felt like she was skating on thin ice.

“Diogenes and dissonance.” Nate finally spoke up, after half the bag of Twizzlers had been masticated into violently chewed bits.

“You’re using big words after midnight. Stop, rewind and dumb it down for the medicated red head.” Grace said, trying to follow Nate’s line of thinking.

Nate’s shoulders shook a little as her words had their intended effect and made him laugh. “Oh Graceless, I do love you. Never change.”

"I wasn't planning on it Nitwit. You're the one getting all existential on me. What's eating your bacon?" Grace asked, finally swinging the conversation back around to where she wanted it.

"I know my dating habits are reprehensible. I just..." Nate hesitated and Grace wondered for the millionth time what had started him down the slutty path in the first place. He had always been a charmer but he hadn't gotten into the playboy attitude until the end of his highschool career. "There's this new regular at work. He's completely useless. And I do mean completely. Born rich, genetically gifted though not quite as handsome as I am, he just wastes time and money and screws anything that'll hold still for him. He's not just panamourous, he's a globalsexual. Want to have sex with EVERYONE. And you know I don't care about someone's sexual orientation but this guy is just..." Nate held his hot chocolate mug like the steaming liquid was a scrying pool that would hold the answers to life, the universe and especially himself. And Grace felt a strange sense that he was having a mid life crisis FAR too young. "And everyone at work is cracking jokes about how there wasn't enough room for one Nate in the club, let alone two." Nathaniel's voice had lost it's emotional timbre, a trick he used when he was feeling something he didn't want to address; he simply switched off.

Grace had seen her best friend cry when their pet dog Monster died of old age, beat her ex-boyfriend nearly to death when he tried to hurt her and laugh so hard he peed himself and she would have preferred any of those to this emotionless automoton he pretended to be right now. Because she knew he was hurting and there wasn't a hell of a whole lot she could do to help. He had earned his reputation as a lady killer and it was coming back to bite him in his well formed ass.

"So you're swearing off sex?" Grace asked, trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice.

"I know I'm a lot of things Grace. And I know even more keenly what I'm not. I think it'll be less painful for a lot of people if I just stop for a while. Sex used to help as a distraction but lately... I just can't be bothered." Nate drank his hot chocolate, once again using the simple actions to distance himself from more questions.

"Alright, but you can still go to the Fall Ball with me. We'll just hang out and have fun as best friends." Grace suggested and Nate gave a scornful laugh.

"I'm sure Colby would love to have me hanging around like the third wheel. No Grace, you deserve to have a fun night. And I seem to have run empty on the fun tank right now." Nate's tone was angry but she knew it wasn't directed at her. He was all but livid at Colby though and Grace simply didn't get why.

"What is it that he did to make you hate him so much?" Grace asked before she could stop herself.

Nate's laugh was cold and almost cruel sounding, but she knew it was directed at himself. He only ever got this way when he was tearing himself down inside his own head. "I don't hate him Grace. I wish I could. I hate what watching him makes me think about myself." Nate finally admitted and stood up. "I'm sorry. Thanks for the talk Graceless but I need to go... Stop by the club tomorrow and I'll buy you dinner for bailing. I just....Estoy cansado" (I'm tired) Nate shook his head and all but jumped back out of Grace's bedroom window as she tried to grab a hold of him and make him stay. But her damaged ankle and drug slowed reflexes left her gaping at the bedroom window as he vanished like some kind of Spainard ninja.

"What the hell?" Grace asked herself as she just blinked at the window, half expecting him to pop back in. But he didn't and Grace waited only a short while before she started to clean up the candy and lounging pillow. Her bed suddenly looked big and cold as she set it back up to sleep in alone. Nate saying that he was tired was no surprise, that man ran himself into the ground on a regular basis. But she knew he meant something more than just being physically exhausted. Her best friend was in the midst of a crisis and Grace had no clue how to help him. Or if he even wanted her to.