"Jesus fucking Christ, what did the landlord say again?" I mutter, slumping down on my bed and trying to catch some of the breeze from the electric fan humming along in a way that seems to suggest it's laboring under the heat just as much as we are. Leon walks over to his bed, similarly falling onto the mattress in a display of exhaustion before grabbing a nearby towel and wiping away the sweat from his forehead.
"Uh... a week?" he replies. "AC repair guys are totally booked the fuck out right now, and of course he's not going to pay for premium service."
Of course. Of course that fucker has to cheap out on repairs when the city is currently in the throes of a momentous heat wave and our air conditioning is broken. Hell, I can look at the TV right now, where the weather channel is telling us the current situation can be downright dangerous to more vulnerable people and that if you don't absolutely need to, you should stay out of the sun at all times. I can't recall another time when it was this god damn hot. And with this summer bearing down on Leon and me as well, we're practically tethered to our beds, sweating and swearing. We're already taking all measures available to us to try and cool down in some way or another, be it drinking a lot of liquids, running the two electric fans we have, and, yes, stripping down most of our layers.
Indeed, as we lay there, we're both shirtless and wearing the shortest shorts we own, and yet we're still sweating like crazy. Why, I can practically see the wetness glistening on Leon's abs... ah, hang on, what was I just thinking? Was I just thinking about Leon's sweaty, glistening body, the way it shines with moisture... his taut, fit chest slowly heaving with every breath he takes... gah! No, no, that's not what I want to think about right now. Even if I am so curious what it would feel like to touch those abs... no! Ah, hell, I need to get my mind off this. A shower should do the trick. So with what I thought would be one fluid motion, but instead turns out to be several slow, sluggish movements, I finally manage to move my ass off the bed and get into a standing position, only to find Leon having done the same. "Uh, what are you doing? I was thinking of taking a shower," I tell him.
In response, he gives me a smug little grin. "Well, I was thinking of taking a shower, too," he replies.
So we are at an impasse. "There's no way we can both fit in there at the same time, the shower's too small for that," I say, wondering how to resolve this.
But to my surprise, Leon just shrugs. "I mean, we're supposed to be saving water, right? So I feel like we should at least try to squeeze in to save some water on not having to shower twice. We've never tried it, haven't we? So how do we know we can't make it work?" he posits, and it's not like I can argue with that. "Put it this way. I'm going to take a shower now. If you want to too, you better try to squeeze in," he then adds before walking off to the bathroom, leaving me with a decision to make. And really, it's not a decision, because I'm not going to stay here and sweat while he gets to enjoy the shower.
The bathroom is cozy if you want to be generous, and cramped if you're being honest. I prefer to be honest here, and it's honestly not made for two people. In fact, when I step inside, I'm practically pressed up against Leon's chest. "Decided to join me, eh?" he says with a chuckle before tugging off his shorts and underwear. I can hardly process the fact that I don't think I've actually seen him naked before when he's already jumped into the shower and turned on the water. "C'mon, Kai! Hurry up!" he calls out, motioning for me to strip down and join him.