Maybe it doesn't make sense, after wishing to see Simon again and set things right with him, to pitch himself headfirst into Jesper. But he doesn't want to spend the rest of the night clutching his chipped and cracked heart, cradling memories that once glowed and now make him cold. Let him have a little fun with a gorgeous, glittering boy. Let his lips and touch be a balm for everything that aches.

It's not the same. But it's much better than being alone.

Wilhelm feels better, too, about their arrangement, the strange shape of their friendship, now that he's released the truth he's kept locked up for so long. Despite all the heavy things he'd just unloaded, his laughter pops out easily as Jesper gropes his ass under the blanket. He playfully pushes at his chest, hand wandering down the front of his coat. It's around now that he realizes...neither of them are holding onto the blankets wrapped around them anymore. More tricks that Jesper's got up his sleeves.

"What if I want to do the ravishing this time?" he jokes, bumping his shoulder into Jesper's arm. Well, half jokes.

Pulling on Jesper's hand, he hurries toward the door that will let them escape the brittle night air.

"Oh, I'm sharing a room, so you might have to behave a little longer."