Documentary mini-series are all the rage nowadays, from the true crime highlights to cults (and in some cases, those two categories can even cross over). In an attempt to keep up with modern trends but have an addicting twist, amateur film producer Character A’s new miniseries has been greenlit: a 6 parter featuring the interviews of 12 different individuals who have died for any period of time two days before being interviewed, asking what they saw in the afterlife.
The show was heavily researched, featured scientific evidence for something aligning with a life after death, dozens of consultations with religious representatives, and pathways of the PostVitam (those who have seen the other side). The plans were detailed, written to perfection -- the only thing that was missing were the PostVitams themselves.
The interview process occurred between October 25th and November 8th, approximately one every day with all happening within 48 hours of the PostVitams' temporary deaths so the memories remained fresh. The first half of the interviews were normal fair and varied drastically from one individual to the next. As expected, it seemed that whatever they had seen must have been a result of their minds experiencing hallucinations from oxygen deprivation or something of the like. The first person to be interviewed on November 1st (Character B), however, marked the beginning of the end.
Every interview after them described the same afterlife experience in eerie, unbelievable detail. As a test, Character A ensures the 3rd and 4th interviewees are separated and have no knowledge of one another before their interview, yet, the results remained impossibly identical.
Through detailed research, studying recordings, hypnotism, and stepping where they should never have gone, Character A discovers what happened to the world (or really, both the worlds) when Samhain came and went but didn’t reseal the veil.
You know those videos of [ first kisses - social experiment ] between strangers on YouTube? There are a million of’em so this link is just a random one.
Well I really like’em and I imagiened Sam and Rafe in one while I made this edit. So. Naturally. I drabbled it- hope ye dig!
Safe as Strangers.
A sweet woman pointed him toward a spot in front of lights and cameras. There were soothing tunes in the background, which accompanied the two shots of rum nicely, to calm his nerves. If you’d ask him this very moment why he’d sign up for this experiment, he couldn’t say. Some extra merit, some experience, something different? Who knew.
If you ask him why now, about five seconds later, he wouldn’t know what to say becuase he simply didn’t care. A tall man, ruggedly handsome, brown-haired, frankly gorgeous stranger walked up to stand with him in front of the cameras where they were to be recorded. Or already were being recorded that very moment. Who knew, who cared, look at this man.
A minute of staring seemed appropriate enough, and he stuck a hand out for the stranger to take. Who eagerly took it.
Cool.
“Hi, I’m Raphael. Or, Rafe.” The smile wouldn’t stop pushing up, so who was he to try and push it down.
“Hey. Hi Rafe, I’m Samuel. Or Sam.” The handsome stranger mirrored, displaying pearly whites.
“Hi Sam” Rafe let his smile loose, then.
Another second passed. His hand was so warm. Comfortable.
“You’re very tall.” The smaller man observed intelligently, chuckling with nervous waves in the sound, he started letting go of the other’s hand reluctantly.
Sam all but wheezed with similar nervous levels. “Thank you, yes, I’ve grown all by myself.”
Both grinned and shuffled slightly, seemingly unable to stand the hell still.
Rafe knew exactly what he was doing there. He was there to be recorded while kissing a stranger and see what happaned.
He knew, yet it struck him just then that this handsome length of hunk was who he had been assigned to kiss. He watched Sam looking at him, seeming equally aware.
And equally pleased.
Cool.
Cool.
“So…” Rafe smiled still, while pushing his hands in his own back-pockets, tilting his head to the side.
“Ever kissed a guy before?” He swayed a little back and forth forming his lips into a line.
Sam chuckled shyly before pulling a hand up to scratch his neck.
“Ah, well uhm, yeah. I dated a guy. Long time ago.” He shrugged at the information. He didn’t think that telling this, earily beautiful stranger that he usually only had flings and one-night stands and that his relationship-count could amount to about, three serious ones.
“It was actually the first guy I came out to as bisexual, and uh..” He clicked his tounge, glancing from his shoes to Rafe.
“Yeah, we were pretty young. It was good, but he moved away.” He felt like every word came out flimsy and like this story had no relevant red string what so ever. Might be the very mezmering, distracting eyes, gazing at him curiously.
“I get that.” The shorter man suddenly acknowledged, nodding.
“I came out to my best friend, as gay” He gestured toward himself as if self-explanaroty. “who replied with ‘me too’, though she’s a girl, so nothing more exciting happaned with that info.” He huffed a laugh.
The tall man chuckled deeply, giving a few nods of his own. This guys was so easy to talk to. Huh.
“Uh, so, uh,” Sam fumbled a little. He turned to some of the crew, just a couple that payed attention to them, while the rest went around and about doing stuff to make the situation feel more natural.
“How uh,” Sam held a thumb toward Rafe to gesture between them. “How much are we allowed to talk? I mean, do we ruin it if we talk to much?”
One of the people behind the camera simply shaked their head and waved toward them, telling them to have at it, let it feel natural.
“So, it’s your first time in a.. stranger’s experiment too, I’m assuming?” Rafe continued, pulling up his hands, clapping them a little.
“Uh yeah, yeah I- I mean I’ve met a lot of people, strangers, through work, which involves documeting a lot, but uhm,” He threw a look towards the machines filming them.
“This is very different.” He huffed in laughs again.
“Yea, I know what you mean. I meet strangers for a living but..” He dropped his hands to his thighs, smacking lightly.
Sam suddenly watched him with wider eyes, something looking like shock. Then it hit Rafe, who threw a hand up to his mouth to cover it in realization.
“Oh god.” He muffled through the fingers.
Sam started showing teeth again in an slowly-growing amused manner. Both of them felt blood rushing, faces easily heating and giggles hard to surpress when minds flew head-first towards innuendos in the company of a stranger.
“I’m in antique-sales business,” Rafe voice pitched, sounding defeated. “I mean I meet a lot of strangers and I have to find a bond with them in order to- I, oh my god” He flailed with both hands while speaking, though giggling the whole time, hands eventually stopped to rest and cover his whole face.
Samuel looked down at the smaller man shaking in snickers, adapting the happy shaking to his own shoulders too, his arms hanging at his sides until they moved up to cross his ribs.
“I mean, I suspected but I don’t actually judge, so” His grin left his jaw ajar after speaking.
Rafe dared to look up, and let go of his face. He sniffed and wiped under an eye.
“Well that’s great, becuase I’m making a great impression here.” Even if he had been working in any type of escorting business, that would be a weak way to introduce it.
The taller looked at him still grinning. Expression full of fondness.
Rafe let his hands stay under his chin, fingers twirled together, looking up at Sam.
He cleared his throat, licked his lips.
“So uh, what do you do?” He let his hands fall down, fingers still twirled.
“Well, Hey- ironic,” Sam gave him a look and his mouth made small smack after swallowing. “I’m somewhat of an archaeologist, not fully-licensed yet, but finding antique stuff isn’t unusual for me.”
Rafe let a looped grin fall into place. Meeting someone his won age who understood anything at all about his own work was extremely rare.
“Wow.” He managed.
“Yeah, I… I’ve been doing it, pretty much my, uh, whole life. It kinda runs in the family.” Sam managed to continue, a little lost of words from looking back at Rafe like that.
Rafe tore his eyes away eventually and threw a look to the crew again, then tried whispering.
“..you think they did this on purpose?” He gave the taller a suggestive look, pointing inbetween them.
“Well to be fair, I really wouldn’t mind if they did, either way.” Sam raised a brow in a suggestive look of his own. It made the shorter snort lightly.
“Me neither.”
They shuffled and fidgeted a little more. A little lulled from the high of letting a stranger know they were allowed to kiss you. A stranger who made you feel safe, for some reason.
“Uh, am I allowed to ask how old you are?” Rafe suddenly looked puzzled. “Not that it matters, but uhm, curiousity.”
“I think so,” Sam threw a look to the people around but noone payed any real attention to them right now.
“I’ll be a rebel and tell you anyway,” Sam winked, which made Rafe’s face tint a little.
“I actually turned 30 last month.” Sam let his under-lip push a little pout, unintressted in his own age. All he recieved at first was a blank face at that. It took Rafe a moment.
“I don’t know wether to congratulate you or call you a liar, 30, really?!” Rafe looked next to bewilired. “You look like 26, atleast.” He shook his head in disbelief.
Sam threw him a side-look. “Is it a compliment if I say you look about 26, too?” Sam leaned back a little and made a braced face, cranking a wink. The other man just snorted again. “Yeah, why not. I’m almost 25, so looking older than I am is still kind of a sexy thing. Or irrelevant, you know, whichever.” He shook his head again, not actually minding who thought he looked like what.
“Almost 25 huh, I’d say 'that’s a great age’ but that makes me sound like 60, so..” The taller ended with a 'pffft’ sound.
The shorter man made a face at him, smile reaching his eyes.
“That is kind of a grampa-thing to say.”
“My little brother does more-or-less call me a grampa.” He frowned, shifting from looking at Rafe to the roof in thought.
Rafe chuckled again, it was a great sound. Beautiful. It made Sam look at him with that fondness again, grinning in success for helping that sound leave those lips.
And he kept looking.
Rafe looking back.
A beat went by.
“Your laugh is amazing-”
“Your eyes are gorgeous-”
Both stopped in their tracks, catching up what the other had said and broke out in grins. Rafe tilted towards the floor again.
The taller man licked his lips and moved to take a hold of Rafe’s hand. His thumbs caressed softly. The action made the younger look up. Sam met his eyes with much more intent now. Not that he hadn’t been watching him carefully this whole time, but his eyes held a deeper meaning suddenly. He was visibly leaning. There’ wasn’t any confusion to being here. He knew what he was looking for, what he was doing. He was on a mission, searching.
“You know you’re eyes are, insane.” He announced in realization. “Like- stunning. Insanely stunning.” Mission complete. Now he’s free to admire his finding. In fact, finding it impossible to look away.
Rafe looked like he’d just seen a star fall for the first time. Or a winter-wonderland. Or a red moon. Or a clear double-rainbow in a rainforrest or something equally amazing to put him in awe.
He inhaled, taking a step closer. It caused Sam to streach his back up again, and it almost entirely closed their distance, just half a foot remaining inbewteen them.
Air started to come a little shorter.
Rafe reached slowly toward the older stranger.
“Uh, I,” Rafe whispered, a hand hovering over Sam’s ribs. The latter reached in return towards Rafe’s hips, guiding him to come closer. In response Rafe did, and let his own hands rest on each side of Sam’s ribcage.
The shorter man let out a little sound when their bodies nudged. The scent of cologne, something like gasoline from a vehicle and a hint of smoke suddenly very strong. Very alluring.
“Do you, uh…” Rafe tried again, looking down to the man’s colorbones. The hands on his hips were gentle. Inviting. Distracting.
“You smell very good.” Rafe finally breathed. Finally daring to look up at him again.
Sam met Rafe’s eyes. “So do you.”
He tossed a glance to his lips.
“I really wanna kiss you.” He said quietly. Voice steady.
A beat.
“Kiss me.” The other whispered.
His tummy felt tight from fluttering. That exciting kind, like when the roller-coster is about to send you flying down after feet upon feet of rolling upward.
Sam leaned in. By instinct eyelids closed just before the first touch. Almost nothing but a tickle, followed a second later by a soft, gentle push.
The flutters in Rafe’s tummy released into a million pieces, now all bouncing around in there.
He inhaled through is nose. One of his hands automatically pulled up instead, behind Sam’s head, holding his breath until he felt the taller man move again. The kiss pulled off slightly, lips never completely parting before pushing close again. A tounge carefully pecking, as if asking if a visit was okay. Rafe parted his lips along with his own tounge darting forth in search of the new companion.
Sam made a sound when they met.
He tasted sweet, but not too sweet. A tad bit of coffee. A hint of ciggarette and, something minty or citrus-y. Maybe from gum.
Bodies pressed closer, movements grew more freely, quiet grunts and breaths let out. Sam held Rafe tighter around his back when the kissing resulted in Sam practically dipping him.
The following kisses lingered. They slowed down. Parting to get air became essential eventually. Even if they didn’t part more than an inch or two at first. They stood up properly, still flushed close together.
Maybe they were shaking a little.
Maybe their shaky breathing gave it away.
Maybe they would need a moment, or several, before they could fully part.
“… uhm.” Rafe breathed.
“So,” Sam started, smiling lazily, dazed from the man in his arms.
“Call me?” Rafe asked with a hopeful tone. All inhibitions be damned.
“Friday?” Sam lit up brighter than a ray of summer sun.
“Yeah!” Rafe nodded, pleased and excited.
Flutters going wild in his chest.
In retrospect, if the whole studio had gone quiet or not during their encuonter, the two men who’d been recorded would never be able to answer. Atleast that’s what they told them three years later in an interview for the experiment-partaking couples who are still dating.
Damian working at retail and speaking on the microphone: Attention shoppers, we are closing in five minutes. If you have not left the store by the time the doors are locked... You will be hunted for sport, thank you for you visit.
