It was 5:30 AM. Ordinarily, Tom wouldn't get out of bed this early without the need to go to class. But this was the time Cliff and Casey got breakfast before their morning workout routines. He'd thrown back a cup of coffee before driving up to the campus diner where the two had convened at, and even that barely had him wired enough.
"Cliff'll give me hell for it, but I might just get some pancakes. The sugar would be a godsend right now." he thought. He opened the door to the small diner and turned the corner to the seating area, where Cliff waved to him from the other end. Tom lazily waved back and made his way to the booth.
Cliff already had his usual planned out, and Casey hadn't put down Luxemburg since they'd gotten there.
"Morning Tom" he said "Not like your ass to be up before 8. Must be something important."
Tom rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah... yeah it is. Guh, I am burnt out. Yesterday was something else."
"Oh yeah, you were telling me about it. Your girl not letting you talk the whole time, had you like a damn dog! I tell ya, I will never understand you with this girl, man. One minute you out here talking about "No gods, no masters!", next minute it's "Oh God, please mistress!"
"It's not always like that!" Tom insisted.
"It's always like that," Casey interjected "It's like that every time you two do it in the dorms."
"We've only done it there twice!" said Tom.
Casey lowered their book and looked Tom dead in the face.
"OK three times."
They continued looking at him.
"Five."
Still the gaze persisted.
"Look, it's really convenient to not drive to her place anymore, OK?"
Tom sighed. "But, there is something I needed to ask. Casey, I need some of your booze."
Casey lowered their book even further.
"Why, pray tell?"
"I... Fuck. I'm introducing Sydney to my father and I need to pregame that."
Cliff looked at Tom in shock, then turned to Casey.
"Casey, you give this man whatever he requires for that shit."
He turned back to Tom.
"Tom... you ain't gotta do that."
"No, no, she's introduced me to her loved ones, it wouldn't be fair. Not with all the trust she's placed in me."
"Tom, your pops is an asshole. No disrespect."
"I know he's an asshole, that's beside the point."
Casey closed their book.
"Tell you all what, why don't we get the morning over with and then we'll talk about free liquor?"
"Good point" said Cliff. "You'll be in a halfway decent mood. Hell, Tom'll be awake."
And so the three made their way about the day, starting with a high-carb breakfast (Tom being chastised heavily by Cliff about eating pancakes with syrup, and ignoring him because he could hear that from his coach during the semester), and ending with around three hours of intense activity at the gym. The two men were breathing heavy from the activity, while Casey was hopping up and down like a small child.
"Woo! Good job boys! Wowie wow wow, I feel great!" they shouted out.
"How...the fuck... are you like this?" Tom wheezed, grabbing his water bottle and chugging.
"Woo!! Tom, I tell ya, there's nothing nothing NOTHING like a good work out! Oh! Oh oh oh! You were asking about some booze earlier, right?"
"Yeah. You got any to spare?"
"Oh totally totally TOH-TAH-LEE! Weeyoo! I'll tell ya what, meet you back at the dorms! Bring your palette with ya, because I make a grrreat ass cocktail! I'll do some cardio up there, it's only a couple miles! Woo hoo!".
Casey spun around and started Naruto running eastward towards the dorms. Tom turned to Cliff in amazement.
"And you're hitting that?"
"Hey, free dome with no strings attached, a bunch of anime, someone to talk Marxism with, and best of all a gym buddy who wakes up 'round the same time as me. What's not to like?" Cliff said.
Tom shrugged in concession and gave Cliff a hug goodbye. The two men got in their respective cars, and proceeded out of the lot, wherein they both proceeded to stomp their gas pedals and drive like the speed demons they were.
Tom made his way back to the dorms, where he saw Casey leaning against the wall with their hoodie back up. Tom got out of his car and walked up to his roommate.
"You got a key right?" he called out. Casey didn't respond. He got closer to Casey.
"Hello? Earth to Casey, anyone there?"
Casey shook their head and rubbed their eyes under their hoodie.
"Oh. Hey Tom. Good to see you, I guess," they said in their usual dry voice "Sorry about that. I fell asleep waiting."
"That quick? That couldn't have been ten minutes. And what happened to your cheerful demeanor?"