The Ties that Bind - Ch. 01

Foreword

This story takes place over the course of a fictional pandemic similar to COVID. This is a very slow burn and focuses on the relationships of our 6 main characters and how they handle their time in isolation.

June 2020

"So, that's it, right? The world is ending, and everyone is out of their fucking minds!" Evy was lying on the couch, short shoulder-length blonde hair spread like a fan around her, scrolling through her social media feed.

"Huh?" Tal looked up from the game board, still holding his horseman token.

"All this bullshit on social media, it's like the world has gone Nazi coocoo!"

"The term is Nutsy Coocoo," Mike noted, never taking his brown eyes off the board, running his thumb along his chin. He was positive he could still salvage the game. That was of course until Tal, with a shit eating grin, placed his horseman. "Stupid game anyway," Mike grumbled while getting up from the couch.

"Should we coin that phrase? Nazi Coocoo? Who do we talk to? William Webster? We could make a killing selling shirts with that." Evy just rolled her eyes as Tal began cleaning up the board, still scrolling through her feed. She had been on the phone since last turn when Mike had backstabbed her and taken her out of the game, which pissed her off to no end since she was planning on doing that to him the following turn.

"And who the hell would buy these shirts?"

"I don't know, maybe some vegan hippy commie fascist libs? Maybe I'll print gluten-free on it."

Evy did her best librarian "what the fuck was that" stare over the edges of her glasses, but Tal was just giggling while studiously ignoring her. She sighed dramatically and slumped over the couch, also dramatically. "Mike, when the fuck is Jenny getting here? I'm hungry!" she whined.

"Keep your shit together E, they've been gone for 20 minutes, not an hour." He skipped quickly out of the path of the couch cushion that Evy lobbed his way and handed her a cocktail cooler. The feisty blonde had a habit of getting feistier if she wasn't kept topped up with food or booze.

"Oh, watermelon daiquiri." Evy started in on her third glass of the night. It had been another long week of being locked in the condo doing work-from-home, and they desperately needed some time to unwind. Luckily the six of them, the three here, Jenny and her roommate Anna, and Tal's coworker Andy, had all formed a pod early on, so that there was enough social interaction to keep everyone sane. Well, sane-ish. 2 months in and no homicides, yet.

Tal pulled out a card game after putting away the previous one. While the three of them enjoyed PvP strategy games, the other three were much more casual about their board gaming preferences.

"I don't know if Anna is going to be drunk enough to play this," Mike chuckled as he opened up the box and started looking through the cards. "I don't think I've ever even heard her swear before."

"Stick, ass, Anna!" Evy gleefully exclaimed after downing most of the glass.

"Not everyone is as outgoing as you."

"Or as socially awkward," Tal poked as Evy stuck her tongue out at him.

Tal had known Mike for over a decade, ever since their last year of college where they ended up rooming together. Both of their living arrangements had fallen through at the last minute, Tal's roommate suddenly dropping out and Mike being rehoused due to some ROTC bullshit. Either way it worked out for them, and they had been besties since. After graduating Tal and Mike shared an apartment in town. Tal jumped from job to job for a while before landing a solid job in product engineering. Mike continued on to work for the Air Force at the local base and could commute in with little difficulty.

Evy was a different story. She was Mike's younger brother's girlfriend when she went to their alma mater some years later. Mike had known her since she was in junior high school, so he took care of her like a little sister, made sure she knew where everything was, helped her set up her housing, chased off creeps, that kind of thing. She ended up breaking up with his brother in her sophomore year because the whole long-distance thing wasn't working out the way either of them had hoped. Still, Mike felt protective of her, so he continued to support her however he could. He ended up introducing her to Tal and they had all become fast friends.

Mike barked out a laugh and flashed a card to Tal and Evy on the couch. "Pacman guzzling cum! Who the fuck comes up with these!"

Evy nearly spat her drink all over Tal, which wouldn't have been the first time that had happened. "Oh my god, did you get the new expansion? Let me see." She climbed over the back of the couch, grabbed a stack, and started laughing hysterically as she read through them.

Tal posed thoughtfully, "How much alcohol will Anna need to play this one? I'm gonna say two to loosen up and three more to say," he grabbed a card from the table, "achieve world peace by mutual orgasm. Huh, that one was pretty tame actually." Evy handed him another one. "Using an 18-inch dildo to fuck my ass." He took a sip of his drink, "Yeah, I'm gonna up that count to four additional drinks."

"Oh my god, it would be so awesome to see that innocent little face of hers scrunch and blush and say the nastiest shit imaginable. I need to record this session so that I can make that my ringtone every time she texts."

Evy glanced at a text message and grinned. "Well well, maybe we already have a head start if this spelling is any indication. Or it could just be a Gen Z thing 'cause I can barely read this. They should be here in 5 BTWs."

"Does it reflect badly on us that our friends need to be mostly drunk to hang out."

There was a beat of silence, then the three gave a unanimous "Nah".

They spent the next couple minutes straightening out the kitchen area for the others to arrive. They were all staying in Tal's place, well, living there really. Tal was able to buy a nice place downtown when he got his big promotion, and naturally insisted that Mike come along. After some convincing, especially the part where Mike could save up to buy his own place since Tal refused any payments, he moved in with him. Evy had moved out of state after graduating but would visit three to four times a year. She had come to visit again just before the whole plague debacle. A couple of weeks later and there was no more traveling allowed, so Tal and Mike just told her to stay. The place had a guest room that was being used as an office that Evy could use. They would work around the dining area during the day and duck into their respective rooms if they ever needed to take calls. It worked out well since her lease was just about up anyway, so she had her family back home box up her stuff and store it for her.

They didn't have to wait long before they heard the knocking at the door. Tal slapped on his mask and some disposable gloves. Hey, they had just reopened restaurants for the second time now, so everyone was still a bit paranoid on how to handle take-out.

Tal opened the door and three people in masks came in. Well, truthfully, it was two brunettes in masks and one person in what looked like a motorcycle helmet with ventilation holes. It looked almost exactly like the enclosed helmets in the Mass Effect games and made Tal jealous that he hadn't similarly ordered one for the deluxe rerelease that occurred last year. But hey, who would have guessed that there would have been a global pandemic?

They went through their "way over the top but better safe than sorry" routine involving wipes, hand sanitizer and spray before setting everything down on the table.

"It's still weird being out there. Barely anyone on the side roads, but the parking lots by the restaurants are really moving." Jenny popped open the various containers while regaling everyone of their adventures across town.

"The Karens were really out in force today," Anna chimed in as she pulled out two containers of Mexican rice and a chorizo cheese dip. "I think there were at least two women there who were demanding to either speak to the manager or getting all pissy about not having been given enough free salsa containers. The salsa bar was literarily right next to her, she could have just grabbed one herself."

"It was wild, man. Honest to God, Karen in the wild, she had the slicked hair, heavy necklaces and everything." Andy had taken off his helmet and was touching up his pandemic man-bun. Tal thought it looked a bit goofy with his clean shaven face, but he seemed to like it. Jenny was not a fan of this fad of his in any way.

"At least every third person there just wasn't masked up either." Jenny diverted her attention from that stupid man-bun. "Worse yet, they kept getting into people's personal space. I mean, even pre-pandemic that was messed up."

Evy was already piling tacos onto her plate and dumping salsa on them. "I'm telling you, it's like a sickness with some people."

"I mean, it is a sickness, a deadly virus that has ravaged the world and its economies, leaving millions," Mike deadpanned before getting cut off from a foot to the shin, which was impressive as Evy wasn't looking at him and was still balancing her laden plate and now fourth glass of toxic colored mixed drink.

"Is this anything like "teh woke mind virus" I've been hearing so much about on the Twitters?" Anna giggled before catching herself.

"I told you not to encourage him, he will only get worse as the night progresses." Jenny jokingly scolded Anna.

Sensing an opportunity to ruffle Jenny's feathers Tal leaned in to Anna. "And how are you doing tonight, Anna? Looking lovely as always." Tal waggled his eyebrows. He loved teasing the young brunette as her reactions were always the cutest, and it seemed to set Jenny off as a bonus. Anna blushed a bit, smiled coyly and brushed past him for the fridge, where Evy handed her two cocktails while stuffing her face. Jenny gave him a death glare. "What? I'm just being friendly."

Andy had wandered to the fridge and grabbed one of the mixed drinks that Evy had stocked up on. It was an odd juxtaposition of a brawny Asian/Hawaiian guy, not fat by any means, and the almost dainty neon green cocktail bottle. The Hawaiian shirt either did or didn't make it better. It was like Schrödinger's shirt, both cool and casual, and lame and dorky at the same time. "Hey man, thanks for hosting. They're doing something with the complex next to ours and it's got traffic flow and parking around the block all messed up. You should have seen Jenny nearly have an aneurism navigating the place."

Jenny steamed, "I swear, it's like people don't know how to drive. I saw two cars double parked, on either side of the road, in a construction zone! That gave me all of three inches on either side of the car to squeeze through."

"Yeah, and we all know that 3 inches is barely anything, don't we", Evy grinned at Mike.

"That's not that small, I'd say its average even. A lot of people prefer that." Mike said in mock panic. Jenny was having none of it, rolled her eyes and grabbed some food. She seemed to be in a bit of a mood today.

They put on a movie in the background and spent the next while chatting and catching up. They tried to make this a regular activity, at least every other week, but you never knew what was going to happen. Jenny and Anna lived in an apartment complex across town, with Andy having a place a bit north of Tal's. Andy and Tal had bonded over their love of Lovecraftian horror, and the fact that they kept quoting more and more obscure movie lines during one of the VP's boring speeches on thinking outside the box a few years back. Jenny and Anna had ended up roommates through some rental matching app and had become fast friends. Anna was a fresh graduate, having just graduated in the winter, and had moved to the area for her first job. Jenny had been desperately looking for someone to replace her last roommate who had broken lease and was just happy she ended up with someone who cleaned up after herself.

Since Anna was still new to the area, Jenny started bringing her along when she visited her brother's place. Tal was only too happy to welcome more folks in, and she fit in nicely with the group. She was also gorgeous, which always helps. Maybe 5'2", she had a barely freckled face framed by wavy hair past her shoulders with dimples that popped every time she smiled. Once Evy met her she immediately decided to take her under her wing and get the young lady acclimated to hanging with the cool kids. This in turn caused mock confusion from the others who started looking for where these supposed cool kids were hiding. When government guidance was announced on setting up pods in April, the group decided to stay together.

Jenny excused herself to the balcony for a quick vape while the others began cleaning up and prepping the card game while trying to strategically place themselves between Anna and the game. Truthfully, she wasn't all that shy, but her more Mid-Western conservative upbringing left her a bit unprepared for the group's sense of humor. Always quick to laugh and quicker to blush, she was a favorite target of Tal and Evy.

"You feeling alright?" Tal asked as he closed the sliding door to the balcony behind him. "You seem a bit stressed. Usually, you aren't mad at me until halfway through the night." He offered her a whiskey glass with ice and orange twist. "I even broke out the big kid drinks." She gladly took it and thanked him.

"Yeah. No. I don't really know. It's just kind of getting to me, being away from home, being locked up, not being able to really go anywhere. I haven't even been able to date in who knows how long." She leaned her head against his shoulder after taking a sip. "And I'm never really mad at you. Well. Usually not."

He put his arm around her and looked out at the city. It wasn't a great view, only being on the tenth floor surrounded by other high-rises, but at least he could see the park and occasionally get a glimpse of the fountain when the leaves swayed. "I get it, I really do. Even with Evy and Mike here, it can feel so isolating. I'm always here for you, and you can always come here, anytime. While I can't make it feel exactly like home, I can at least give you shoulder to lean on." He kissed her forehead, to which she scrunched her face but didn't stop him. She sipped the drink for a bit, enjoying the silent companionship of her brother.

The rest of the night was a bit of a blur for everyone, lots of embarrassing stories from college, horror stories from working retail back in the day, impressively graphic card games considering they only had four or five words on them, and at least one time Andy laughed so hard that he fell off the chair. Anna's face kept changing shades of red during the card game, but she was getting into the spirit of things, once causing Evy to spit take all over Tal. For at least a little while, it felt like things were back to normal, and it was just a bunch of friends having fun.

Eventually the night wrapped up and Jenny had to take everyone home. She hugged Evy goodbye, stood up on her tiptoes to give Mike a peck on the cheek and gave Tal a big hug. "Thanks for having us over, I really needed this."

"You can always count on me Gem."

"Ugh, only dad calls me that."

"I know, just trying to make it feel like home for you."

She laughed a bit before grabbing her keys, masking up, and heading out. Andy donned his helmet, making a whooshing and clicking noise that Tal was pretty sure was just Andy making sound effects, gave a salute and followed Jenny. Anna gave Evy a big hug before heading out. They had grown quite close in the intervening months, which was interesting considering how they were largely opposites personality-wise. She thanked Tal before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and whisking off into the hallway covering her face with her mask.

"She was making googly eyes at you most of the night. You should totally do something about that."

"She's a bit young for me Evy, thanks for the concern. Also, Jenny will skin me alive if I fuck up another one of her roommate relationships."

"Pussy."

Andy's place was a townhouse about 30 minutes north of Mike and Tal's place. It was tastefully decorated with a lot of traditional Japanese artwork without coming off as too weebish. Andy was half Japanese and half Hawaiian, being the first of his generation to live off Kona Island. He liked to display his roots; it helped him feel connected and eased the loneliness he sometimes felt being away from everyone.

Any visit to Andy's was met with all kinds of homemade snacks and treats. Andy had gone hard on all of the cooking shows back in April and had been part of all the food fads. He made his own sourdough that everyone loved, especially Jenny who had hoarded and frozen several loaves. He tried his hand at beer that was admittedly less beloved, but he redeemed himself with his assortment of fancy spiced jams. He also had a little garden on his balcony and kitchen ledge. Fresh herbs were in the kitchen so that he could pluck and add them right into his newest creation, and he had all kinds of peppers and tomatoes coming off the vines on the balcony. One of the best parts of going to Andy's place was that he would always insist on cooking a 3 or 5 course meal. Anyone who visited would leave a few pounds heavier and be laden with cookies and jams. It was a miracle his weight hadn't doubled during the lockdown.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help," Jenny exaggeratedly pursed her lips and pouted at Andy.

Andy pointed his finger accusatorily at her from across the little island, "You, madam, cannot be trusted. I don't want another incident like last week."

She blinked at him innocently, "Whatever do you mean Andy? The pound cake was delicious."

Andy leaned closer to her, "Don't think you can get out of this by being adorable. I was drunk off my ass from one slice." Jenny's smile widened into a mischievous smirk as she playfully snapped at his nose, but Andy was too fast and backed away, eyeing her as he finished the soup.

Andy always dressed nicely when anyone came over for a meal, something about it made him feel like it added a bit of class to the event. He never explicitly asked, but he appreciated that his friends would similarly dress up a bit. Jenny looked lovely in her yellow strappy sundress, letting her long brown hair drape over her right shoulder. She was sipping a white wine spritzer Andy had made her, kicking one of her long legs idly from the kitchen stool. She loved watching Andy cook; the man was a tornado of activity in the kitchen. He was sporting a burgundy button-up shirt that he had rolled up the sleeves on, barely showing off the tip of one of his tattoos. While he wasn't as muscular as Mike, he still filled out his shirt nicely.

"Oh, V says she misses you. You may want to give the poor girl some attention before she hunts you down."

"Okay, you are in a mood today."

Jenny clicked her tongue, not getting Andy to take the bait. She sighed, "She's been working with a bunch more streamers doing multiplayer games, so her schedule is kind of crazy. She said she'll try to join us on Monday." Andy was fine with that; V was always fun to have on a team, though she was awfully high energy.

Andy added a few last finishing touches on the main dish and was starting to set the dining room table when he heard the door knock at exactly 7pm, which could only mean that Mike was here as the man was physically incapable of not being on time. Jenny got up from the stool and headed to the table while Andy went to get the door.

Andy swung open the door and welcomed the masked Mike and Tal in, who in turn offered him a pricey-looking bottle of Chardonnay that would pair nicely with the miso glazed salmon Andy had prepared. Tal was sporting a collared shirt, slacks, and sport coat, while Mike had gone the business casual route like Andy with a button shirt rolled at the sleeves and jeans.