i broke my bones.

⌠ ZETHPHAN SMITH-GNEIST, 20, CISMALE, HE/HIM ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, AUGUST KENNICOTT! according to their records, they’re a THIRD year, specializing in SEDUCTION & FLIRTATION + KNIFE FIGHTING SKILLS, SWORD TRAINING, PRECISION SHOOTING, FIREARMS & SWAT TRAINING; and they DID go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (a bright smile with brighter teeth, taking a break just to sit outside in brisk weather while drinking hot tea, not knowing when it’s time to give up). when it’s the (leo)’s birthday on 8/18/2000, they always request their COCONUT PRAWNS WITH LEMON-LIME SAUCE from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation.

– “THAT’LL MAKE IT EVEN MORE SAD WHEN I PUT YOU TO SHAME as a total natural, ” aylin challenges with a laugh, smile growing extra wide when she meets his eyes. something about being around august can make her feel a bit more childish at times, like an even younger version of herself, but maybe it’s just because he’s so good at making her happy. “ see, normally i would go for chocolate vanilla swirl, but i already know that one is less stable, so…it’s vanilla for me today, ” she decides, “ dang it, i should not have told you that. ” 

“i’ll hold back my thoughts, because i’m not one to judge on first impressions, but… biting your ice cream? you psycho!” she giggled, making sure the other knew she was joking. if anything, she did way worse things like taking the toppings off her pizza one by one, then eating the crust itself. it just had way more taste! “this is starting to sound like a science class, but you know what? if every science class had ice cream included, maybe i’d pay more attention.” she chuckled, observing her cone to look for any sort of imperfection that could ruin her game and stood in front of the machine. “i’ll take pure chocolate today. are you ready to lose?” she said, absolutely faking being competitive. she only wanted ice cream.

“oh no, you’re definitely going down,” she said, grabbing a cup. “a cone? amateur. but i’ll let you learn the hard way. count it down.”

– “WELL, HOPEFULLY YOU WEREN’T LOOKING FORWARD TO BRAGGING too much, gus ! because it’s not happening. i have a gift, ” or just a huge sweet tooth that has lead to frequent use of the soft-serve machine, “ but it is sweet of you to offer to cover for me regardless, i hope that means you won’t be a sore loser either. ” she pauses : “ oh, smart. should we race ? or go one at a time and measure it. because if we race, we’ll each have to do different flavors. ” 

starter for @akennicott

– “SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY DO TO YOU IF YOU ACTUALLY DO WORSE by the end of boot camp than you did at the beginning ? ” jem says, falling onto the track out of breath and exhausted, “ because i think i’ve actually gotten slower. ” 

       “ I JUST DON’T WANT TO MAKE A MESS !   the kitchen staff will kill us if we get this all over. ”   there’s a smile on her lips when he goes to grab bowls, taking one of them from him.   “ no, this is perfect. let’s do it at the same time, and we can put the bowls right here, ”   she tucks it on the ledge of the machine, then grabs a machine.    “ hopefully that doesn’t fall over, but it’s just a fail safe anyway. even if it drops, it all goes down the same hole anyway. ”   her mouth ;  she means her mouth.   “ ready when you are. ”

she smiles at his words, curiously waiting to see what august was going to come up with this time. “yes? okay, great.” sky responds, laughing. “of course i’m going to eat it! i just expected something else, i don’t know, syrup, springles, anything. ice cream’s good, but when you can can have a better version of it… why rush?” 

“video proof is the only thing that can save us. first to fall over loses. but i’m telling you, you’re gonna lose. i know how to handle ice cream, you’re definitely going down.”

“I read somewhere that there is no such thing as cheat day and that is actual a cheat meal, which I personally think is totally absurd,” she states with a huff. Why rain on her parade? “You’re on! Highest ice cream swirl. I’ll never say no to ice cream. I should be training in a bit, but my body aches, so I will motivate it with some good ice cream.”

“a cheat day would imply i follow any sort of regular nutrition plan, which i definitely don’t do, so ice cream always sounds good.” gelato, frozen yogurt, ice cream, margot doesn’t have much of a preference. a frozen dessert is always great to her. “okay, are we putting this in a bowl so if it falls over we don’t drop it on the floor or are we just full sending into a cone and hoping for the best?”

– “I THINK SO! BUT SO WAS YESTERDAY…so, you have to promise me you won’t tell scott, ” she says, because she and scott always try to hold each other to eating healthy, but usually it ends up in scott getting disappointed in aylin. “ highest. i can eat all the ice cream. ” 

“Never ask me if I don’t want that much ice cream ever, ever again.” Wilder puts his hand out as he talks, staring down the soft serve machine like it’s his new enemy. He lets out a breath, because he’s tired, for more reasons than just bootcamp but at the least he doesn’t mind the distraction. He’s gotta say, being back at Gallagher with his friends is already making him feel a little better. He wishes he hadn’t ignored them all while in Dresden, but it’s too late to take it back. “We should get bowls, in case it falls over so it’s not a waste.” He looks over at August, gives him a quick elbow to the side. “Are you going to count us off? I can’t start without a cue, what if I start early? It wouldn’t be fair.”

“If I do, it’s because I want to fight,” he jokes, because Wilder is basically last on his people to fight list. Which is non-existent, anyways, but if he did have one. “I agree. Do you think one bowl each will be enough or should we line the entirety of the soft serve splash zone?” Personally, if things seem to be going in that direction, August will likely fling his ice cream into the designated bowl because he’d rather lose than waste ice cream. “I can. But first...” He puts his hands together as if in prayer and closes his eyes, quiet for a moment. “Okay, I’m ready for this important competition. 3, 2...go!”

“every day is cheat day if you just don’t care,” he points out. never has been one for paying too close attention to what he eats. he’ll eat just about whatever is placed in front of him, and if he’s feeding himself? just eat whatever sounds good. “too much ice cream? blasphemy. i’m in for your first idea.” definitely not a wise choice when you still have training to do the same day, but whatever.

“well, there’s always pregnant women with crazy cravings late at night, high people and drunks, or simply people who think they’re too tough for the winter- you know, the kind of people who will bite their ice cream,” she responded, making it seem like she was talking about total psychos. “alright, but don’t say i didn’t warn you,” she smirked, watching his choice of cone. “bold move, mister.” she said, going for a waffle cone. those were her favorites. “are we doing one flavor or mixing?”

Tilting her head as she listened to the ideas, she then shrugged. “I never say no to some ice cream” she mumbled. “Highest ice cream swirl. That is the idea I liked the most out of the two” she added and chuckled. She had not given her any cheat days these last weeks but today well she wanted to be nice towards herself. 

“Nobody should,” he states, because there are non-dairy options for those who need an alternative. “Wanna take a guess at how high yours is gonna be? I reckon I can reach at least 40 inches.”

“ IS IT ? ” she looks at him, and she hopes so. though, what is she cheating on when she eats icecream almost all the time ? unconfirmed, but she’d still participate. at his suggestion her eyes light up a bit because that actually sounds FUN and she WOULD eat that amount of icecream. “ okay, highest wins… ” she says with a nod. “ have you done this before ? ”  sophie wonders, just in case he’s secretly a pro at this !