Felix loved living in India as a kept man. Wolfgang knew his best friend would love every second of his newly acquired sugar baby status, except for one month of the year: October. Felix loved good beer and the club scene a little too much, and, to be completely honest, Wolfgang missed having a day where the weather was shit just to complain about it as Felix closed the key shop to drink a beer in the back.
That's how they found themselves going to Berlin for a month, all expenses paid by Rajan's shiny black credit card. They stayed at a rented apartment downtown because Felix refused to go back to that piece of shit of Wolfgang's.
Wolfgang was content to be in Berlin because that was his mother's city as well. All memories he had of her were intricately intertwined with the city that raised him, and Wolfgang didn't want to lose what little of her he had.
Of course, Kala and Rajan came with them. For some unknown reason, they were both fascinated by the idea of Berlin.
"The weather will probably be shit," Wolfgang warned them as they walked through the airport on their way to exit.
"Snow?" Kala asked excitedly.
"In October?" Felix looked at her with a frown. "Probably a constant drizzle, but mostly cloudy. You've never seen snow?"
Kala shook her head. "I've felt it through Wolfgang, never by myself."
"I've never been to Berlin, period," said Rajan. "I've always wanted to go to the art galleries."
"We are not going to an art gallery," Wolfgang replied.
"But Wolfgang—"
"You can go wherever you like, Rajan. I'm going to drop acid at the Tiergarten. Then I'm going to go to a rave."
"Woohoo!" Felix said. "That's what I'm talking about! I'm in."
Kala frowned. "That doesn't seem safe."
"Safety's overrated," said Felix.
Wolfgang smiled at his best friend, then he turned to Kala and Rajan. "You're more than welcome to join us."
"I've never dropped acid," said Rajan. "Kala has never— wait, have you ever been high on LSD?"
Kala shrugged. "Riley has done a lot of drugs."
"So has Wolfie," added Felix.
They went through the glass doors and Kala shivered as the breeze picked up.
"Told you," Wolfgang said.
Rajan took off his jacket and put it on Kala's shoulders. She smiled at him gratefully, then she turned to Wolfgang with a serious look on her face. "You need a sitter."
Wolfgang looked from Kala to Felix and laughed, a full blown belly laugh like he hadn't laughed in Berlin since he was kidnapped by BPO. He put an arm around Kala's shoulders and said, "Kala, when in Berlin, do as the Berliner does."
Then he kissed her temple and didn't speak until they were at their AirBnB.
They arrived to Berlin in the middle of the Festival of Lights and downtown Berlin was bubbling with activity. After scoring two doses of LSD that both Wolfgang and Felix put under their tongues without even thinking twice about it, they walked around the city for a while while Rajan stopped them in front of every display to take pictures of the four of them together.
By the time they got to Brandenburger Tor, Wolfgang was tripping balls, and the lights display —in all its yellow and turquoise shapes, and bold black lettering that read SAVE EARTH— was making him dizzy. Still, he pushed between the sweaty bodies gathered around the square, grabbing Felix's hand to stop him from wandering too far. If it was hitting Wolfgang hard enough to make him see fractals, Felix and his slender frame were probably shooting straight to Saturn and beyond.
Kala was holding onto his other hand, dragging Rajan along as she looked around at the lights display. She looked vaguely out of it as if experiencing Wolfgang's high as well, but she was clearly much more focused than Wolfgang was. For his part, Rajan was completely oblivious to the fact that all of his people were currently tripping as he took in the lights of the festival.
Felix stopped when they were close enough to the speakers that Wolfgang could feel the vibrations on the floor. Wolfgang wanted to go to the park first and dance later, but Felix had already decided and Kala was feeling happy to follow his lead.
Wolfgang let go of their hands and reached for Rajan's, taking his phone from his hands before he snapped another selfie.
"Put that away!" Wolfgang yelled to be heard above the music. "Dance with us!"
Rajan smiled as he put his phone away, dancing clumsily towards Wolfgang. Felix and Kala joined them, creating a circle where they danced together until the projection on Brandenburger Tor changed to a deep purple with floating pink bubbles. Wolfgang wasn't sure if the bubbles were actually pink or if that was the acid, but he didn't care. He ended up taking his t-shirt off in spite of the autumn breeze, sweaty and happy.
Kala stopped dancing and frowned at him. "You need water," she said.
"I need a beer," said Felix, still dancing.
"No beer for either of you," said Kala. Wolfgang watched Kala as she blinked away for a moment, searching for her connection to Blue. She was back a minute later. "Riley's no use. She and Will are perhaps higher than these two."
Rajan stopped dancing then. "What? When?"
Wolfgang laughed. "I don't know. The last half hour?"
"What is time even?" Felix asked.
Suddenly, Wolfgang felt the need to hug his best friend, and so he did. After wrapping him tight in his arms, holding him for a while, he pulled back enough to lean his forehead against Felix's as he grabbed the back of his neck. "I'm so happy you're alive, Felix."
"So am I, Wolfie!" Felix said, yelling to be heard above the music and the people mumbling amongst themselves, not caring for the fact that Wolfgang was right there, inches away from his face.
They both laughed then, still close together, barely containing their happiness. They hugged again and then jumped around until Rajan grabbed Wolfgang's arm to get his attention.
"You need to drink some water," Rajan said, "let's go find some and come back."
They walked among the crowd in their search for water until they reached a cart selling popcorn and bottled water. Rajan bought one bottle for each and watched carefully as Wolfgang, Felix, and Kala drank before taking a sip of his own.
"I don't get why I'm being treated as if I was high," Kala said.
"You're high by proxy," said Wolfgang.
"By proxy," Felix mocked, "oh, la la Mr. Educated."
"Fuck off," said Wolfgang, with no heat behind his words.
Rajan asked, "do you want to go back to dancing?"
Wolfgang looked at the glowing lamps that announced the start of the Tiergarten wistfully. "Let's go for a walk instead."
As they walked down the park, Wolfgang's body began to cool down, so he put his t-shirt back on. Felix was walking a lot faster than they were, so Kala asked, "what's the hurry?"
"Who's hurrying?" Felix asked in return.
"You are, man," called Wolfgang from where he was a few steps behind.
"Oh, I'm following the purple moon," he said, pointing towards the sky, where the waning moon shone bright over their heads.
To be honest, Wolfgang did not see it purple, but he was glad his friend was as high as he could be. He was filled by a hum of happiness that he wasn't sure if it was the drugs he was taking or the ones Riley and Will were enjoying in their part of the world. Wolfgang found that he didn't care.
Kala, who was mildly high on her own, walked ahead and took Felix's hand. "How come I don't see a purple moon?" she asked.
Wolfgang didn't hear Felix's answer, but he smiled anyway. Rajan chose that moment to grab his hand.
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
Wolfgang held his hand tighter. "We've never gone for a walk in the park like this," he said.
Rajan gave him a sad smile. "India is not… Sometimes people in India can be less open-minded than in Berlin."
Wolfgang hummed in acknowledgement. "But we went to Pride in June."
"Which was a huge step for me," Rajan added, completing Wolfgang's train of thought. "I'm not sure our arrangement will be seen positively by the shareholders in my company."
"Fuck them," Wolfgang spat.
"I'd rather not," mumbled Rajan.
Wolfgang laughed out loud, surprising himself in the process. His memories of Berlin had always been tainted by blood and violence. Not this moment though. Right now, all he felt was immense joy.
When he glanced back at Rajan, the man was smiling. "I love seeing you happy."
Automatically, Wolfgang replied, "and I love you."
Rajan looked down, blushing. Wolfgang would never get tired of making Rajan blush. It was one of his favorite things in the world.
They walked hand in hand until they reached Kala and Felix who came to a stop in front of a giant tree, inspecting the leaves as if looking for something.
"Motherfucker," said Felix, "the leaves are talking."
"What are they saying?" Rajan asked.
"That you're both corny as fuck," Felix said, bursting out laughing. Kala followed his lead and laughed as well.
Before Wolfgang could reply something, a drop of water fell on his forehead. He looked up and saw how diamonds fell down from the sky, turning into water when they reached the floor. Suddenly, it was raining and Wolfgang let go of Rajan's hand to stretch his arms up above his head, trying to catch the tiny droplets of diamonds with his hands.
Kala followed his lead, letting the rain wash over her as she caught rain water with her hands. Like any autumn rain in Berlin it as heavy as it was sudden and in a matter of minutes, Wolfgang was soaked.
"You're going to be sick," Rajan said, frowning.
Kala laughed and came to kiss her husband's cheek. "Live a little, my love."
Then, she took off running. Felix, who seemed amused by the whole ordeal, went after her, and Wolfgang followed them just a moment later. Rajan caught up with them soon enough, and they ran and frolicked under the rain until the shower became a light drizzle.
Kala threw herself on a bench, laughing, and pulled Felix with her. When Wolfgang noticed them, he grabbed Rajan's hand and pulled him to the bench where the four of them sat, soaked to the bone and happy.
At some point, the breeze picked up and Wolfgang said, "let's go back home and order an obscene amount of food."
"God I miss German bread," said Felix. "I'd eat a loaf of it right now."
"What's wrong with Indian bread?" Rajan asked.
Kala put a hand over her husband's as she said, "there's nothing wrong with Indian bread, Raj. But Felix is right, German bread is unbelievable."
"Best in Europe," added Felix.
"I thought that was French bread," Rajan said.
"Fuck the French," yelled Felix.
"Yeah, fuck the French," Wolfgang echoed.
Rajan held his hands up in surrender. "Where do we find this mysterious German bread then?"
Wolfgang smiled and stood up, offering Kala a hand. "We have an entire month to educate you on the wonders of German cuisine. Now, can we go change into dry clothes and binge a talent show?"
"A talent show?" Rajan asked, curious.
"It relaxes him," said Felix. "I was promised a rave."
"We always have tomorrow," promised Wolfgang. "Let's go."
Later, much later, as they piled on the bed eating pizza and bretzels, a talent show on the background, and the rain picking up outside, Wolfgang realized that he had never felt this happy in Berlin before. He quietly sent a prayer to the universe to get to keep it.