GLORIOUS HORRORS

          He wasn’t entirely sure why Robert was so invested in this. To his knowledge, the older boy didn’t get paid or anything. He was doing this per Mrs. Evergreen’s request and her request only. Rob could have easily sent him a text that today’s tutoring session would have to be canceled because of unholy weather conditions, and Tenny would’ve said okay without resistance. However, Robert was here, at his—no, his grandparents’—house, and Tenn had to make sure it looked somewhat decent. On his way to the front door, he picked up a couple of items—magazines, empty coffee mugs, and a pen—and stacked them on the kitchen table in a poor attempt to clean up.

          Opening the door, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, a freezing gust of wind wildly assaulting his face. Fuck. He wasn’t used to this. They didn’t get snow back in Galveston, the winter temperature rarely dropping below fifty degrees. The idea of having a snow day, therefore, was more or less alien to him. Hell, he had never even seen actual snow until moving to his grandparents’ place.

          “Hey,” he greeted, cautious per usual. He took in the older boy’s shaking frame as he slid out of Robert’s way, a clear invitation to come inside, then wondered in disbelief: “Wait, did you walk?”

      At the sound of a metallic click and a wall of warmth meeting the back of his neck, Robert’s head snapped back to the door in front of him, his face brightening at the sight of the blond. “Ten!” he exclaimed, beaming at the teen. The teen was genuinely excited to see the other boy, after all, he had just been contemplating the possibility that he was going to face this terrible weather head on in clothing not suitable for this kind of cold, which left his chances of surviving the long trek back very, very low. Oh, the things he does in the name of science.  

      Not wasting a single moment, Robert darted straight in as Tennessee stepped aside, moaning at the heat now surrounding him.  “Me, walk? Of course not!” He scoffed, tugging at the mustard yellow scarf shielding his neck. “I don’t walk, Ten, I glide. I take long, smooth, gliding strides.” Robert hummed contentedly, his fingers moving to unbutton his peacoat. “My gliding is quite beautiful, in fact, it’s probably one of my best features.” He paused to think on that, then shook his head. “No, it’s definitely one of my best features.”

        Rough Southern outlaws? Johnny Cash? Now that was a first. Usually he would get idiotic remarks like but I thought you were from Texas or your parents must have hated you, huh. It was annoying as fuck. “Y’know, you sound like one of those freakishly perky kids’ show hosts,” he mused, squinting his eyes. This Robert kid seemed to be, for the most part, completely harmless. His stance wasn’t so stiff and unfriendly now, but there still existed an air of weariness about him.

        The constant anxiety and vigilance tired and frustrated him, but Tennessee couldn’t bring himself to stop. His brain was just wired like that. He’d learned to be as small and invisible as possible, walking on eggshells around the house. His school counselor had said it was going to take quite a while for him to break out of that mentality. Tell me something I don’t know, he’d nearly snapped. All he wished for was to live the life of a normal teenager. A teenager who was comfortable in his own skin; who didn’t wake up in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat; who didn’t flinch whenever someone raised a hand around him. And he was trying hard, he really was, you see, he’d agreed to do this after school tutoring thing because he genuinely wanted to do well in school. He knew he was too cowardly, too selfish, too blunt—but he wanted to get better, though he wasn’t sure if he could, or if he deserved to. He just didn’t want to grow up to be like his asshole of a stepfather. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it? (Or was it?)

        The sound of the older boy’s voice brought him back to reality. “Atomic mass, yeah,” he said, sniffling a bit out of habit. Rob continued to speak in that cheery tone of his, but Tennessee could see his expression gradually changing to a confused scowl as he turned the pages over and over, seemingly appalled at the excessive length of the chapter. “That woulda made things a whole lot easier,” he drawled, merely shrugging in response. He’d gotten the feeling that a lot of the explanations were redundant and unnecessary as he read the textbook, but how the hell was he supposed to know? Science in general wasn’t his strong suit. Any subject involving rules and mechanics, he immediately lost interest in. “Uhm,” the blond frowned, tapping the pencil against the desk as he struggled to recall a particularly boring lecture from last Tuesday. “Protons—that’s the number thing on the periodic table, I think.” He paused. “I dunno what it’s called exactly.”

      “There’s nothing wrong with being perky,” he said, toning his demeanor down to a less manic state. “Why, a healthy disposition can lead to a healthy train of thought.” That was a saying he had said to him often, and one he took great pains to stick with, but unfortunately for Robert, he often found his train of thought swerving down the wrong lane at the slightest provocation.  No, Robert wasn’t a truly perky teen, not at heart, and certainly not without a lot of work. But people preferred this version of him than the real him, even he preferred a perky Robert than sinister creature he’s become, so this perky mask would stay on for as long as he could muster the energy. Besides, acting how he instinctively wanted would come off as cranky, and Robert knew from experience, that having a cranky tutor who wanted nothing more than to blow through this session, would cause the other boy’s attention to drift away from Robert’s own explanations, and what good would that do for either of them?

        “Right.” Robert nodded at the boy’s answer. It wasn’t correct but it wasn’t wrong, it was just a vague answer from a confused kid, and he wasn’t about to seed doubt into him by telling him he was wrong. Flipping to the back of the book, the older teen paged through the last few sheets until he found the periodic table, and pushed the book between the two of them. "One way to find out the atomic mass is to take the protons, “ he pointed to the number 76, in the top left corner of the elemental symbol fo osmium. “And add that number to the amount of neutrons it has. But--” Robert shut the book. Given that Tennessee could hardly remeber what the atomic number was also known as, he was beginning to suspect that the boy didn’t even have the table memorized, not that he could blame the boy, it did seem like a tedious thing to do if you didn’t have incentive or interest in the subject. “What if we don’t have a table with the numbers on it, and all we’re given is an element and the number of neutrons it has, how do we find it then?”

boiling love potions in the kettle

enchanting instruments to play their favourite pop songs

lighting a cigarette on a floating candle

going back in time to watch a tv episode they missed

hiding an owl in a ‘no pets’ apartment

dying their hair at the flick of a wrist

writing spells in starbucks

flicking between magazines and ancient tomes

asking siri where to find obscure ingredients

changing the weather to suit their moods

holding a coven at a record shop

using city lights instead of the moon and stars

a few years later, the closest thing to contact that the two of them have is muse a hearing muse b’s songs on the radio/face on movie posters. until one day when their phone lights up with text messages. it seems an interviewer dug up some dirt on muse a… including a never mentioned spouse, muse b.

“I’m trying to make macaroni but I’ve burnt 3 pans and set off the fire alarm and I heard the lady above us say you were a chef please help” AU

“I know we just met yesterday but the landlord is coming over and I have 2 cats please hang out with them for a few hours” AU

“I bought too many popsicles at the store do you want some?” AU

“We both got kicked out because our roommates are having sex so now we’re playing poker and talking about gardening” AU

“I’ve been in love with you since you first moved in and I finally built up the courage to knock on your door but when you answered you had just woken up and didn’t have a shirt on so I ran away” AU

“I locked myself out of my apartment so I have to climb out your window and onto my balcony” AU

“I made too much food wanna come in and help me out oh who set up a table with candles and wine thats weird” AU

“You’re drunk and walked into the wrong apartment and fell asleep on my couch oh god you’re going to be so confused in the morning” AU

“I’m at work and my son needs to be picked up from school do you mind?” AU

“Okay well it turns out you’re really good with kids and my son has started calling you daddy and insists we move in so ‘we can be a real family’” AU

“We met at a cafe and started flirting but when I left you started following me and I got creeped out and called you a stalker but it turns out you just live in the same building this is so awkward” AU

“Your laundry got mixed up with mine somehow and now we’re sitting in silence sorting underwear” AU 

“I barely know you but my boyfriend just broke up with me and you heard me crying so you brought over ice cream and movies” AU

“Our dogs whine whenever they’re apart so we spend pretty much every day together” AU

“I walked in on your ex yelling at you so you grabbed me and kissed me  so she’d go away and I’m kind of freaked out I literally just met you last week” AU

Lucas had been taking a rare nap, when he heard  the door open and someone trudged in with what sounded like boxes. He remained silent hoping the guy would figure out his mistake and leave. When he peeked over the side of his bed below, a dark-haired boy was decorating the vacant side of the room. He had to say something, anything… His room was being taken over when he had done nothing wrong. “Mate, you-you’ve got the wrong room…” he blurted.

     Jack had thought he was alone, so when an alluring sleepy voice broke the silence from behind him, the kid jumped, losing his balance in the process. “Whoa!”  He yelped, tumbling off the bed, landing in a sprawl on the dorm room's floor with a loud thump! "Ah, fuck!" Jack cursed, rubbing his ass through his uniform. Where thee fuck had that voice come from? He leaned his head back, eyes roaming above him, when he spotted a pointed face of another boy. "Uh..." A grin crept onto his face, and within and instant he was back on his feet, standing immediately beneath his supercute roommate.      "Nah, babe, I totally got the right room." Jack leant against the frame of the bunk bed, the hardwood creaking under his added weight. "British, huh?" Cute and exotic. Scooore. Jackpot! Ding! Ding! Ding! This was going to be awesome. "That's hot. I'm Jack, I can swallow a banana whole." He pointed to his neck, a single brow waggling in suggestion. "No gag reflex."

“Holy shit,” he exclaimed, eyes wide, staring up at the sky colored in an ugly shade of gray. Raindrops were pouring down, tapping out random rhythms upon the city—benches, street lamps, parking meters. There was no way it was going to stop anytime soon. His djembe was safely tucked away in a bag, now hanging from his shoulders, and the rest of his stuff was stowed in his backpack. Karen, his film major friend who had offered to shoot today’s video, had already hopped on a taxi and was gesturing at him to do the same, too. The rain was so loud that Hunter couldn’t hear a word of what she was saying, but the girl’s mouth seemed to say get your ass in here—which definitely sounded like a good idea. 

The only reason he was hesitating, however, was the sight of a black stray cat in the corner of his eye. Soaking wet and tiny, the cat was— “Hey, stop that!” he yelled, the thought of Karen completely wiped away from his mind as he made a dash towards the scene, ditching his friend and the taxi. Some jerk had just fucking kicked the poor thing. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with people?

He didn’t have the most intimidating face, but Hunter still shot a glare at the retreating passerby. “Asshole,” he muttered, adjusting his umbrella so as not to get his instrument wet, and crouched down to check if the cat was injured in any way. It let out a weak meow, and wasn’t bleeding. That had to count for something, right?

        “What?!” A tiny blonde popped up beside her,  pushing her sister aside for look. “What happened? Where is he?!”

       “Right there!” Beverly pointed. “He’s right there, someone just kicked him!”

       Madison gasped, pushing herself away from the window and zipping towards the door. “We have to go help him!”

       “Maddy, no!” The brunette chased after her, grabbing a hold of the smaller child’s arm. “You know what he said, he doesn’t want us going outside without him! Especially like this!”

       The younger girl huffed, tearing her arm away. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll go as a kitty, then.” And in a puff of glitter and smoke, a small white kitten sat in the place where the little blonde girl  once stood. Beverly groaned, but followed suit, transforming into an inky black kitten. The door swung open on its own, and the two kittens dashed out as fast as they could. Darting between traffic and pedestrians alike, the two kittens crashed into the hands of a man, who seemed keen on taking their father away.

       Right away they set to work in rousing him: they tried head butting the larger cat, and mewling for him to stand up, but neither seemed to work. Instead, all Robert seemed to do was drag his paw up, placing it between himself and one of the butting heads in an effort to put an end to the incessant behavior. With a frustrated meow, Beverly hopped onto her father, reaching for his ears and began tugging. Despite all their efforts, their father could barely keep his eyes open. 

       The kittens paused, sharing a worried glance, knowing that nothing but sugar would rouse the sick and beaten cat before them. They’ll have to let the human take them, there wasn’t any other choice, but maybe they’ll take them too. Their spirits dampened, shoulders slumped, the kittens turn their defeated gaze onto Hunter. “Mew mew,” they called out, and the smallest of the two, a white fluffy little thing with big blue eyes, stood on her hind legs to reach for the man. “Mew,” she pleaded, and in seconds the small black kitten joined her. “Mew mew!” 

“Can’t say I’d be a very good Robin, but I guess you’ll just have to work with what you got.” She shrugged. “So, what are we supposed to be doing? I haven’t had any food since dinner last night, so I’m not exactly in a ‘project’ mood.” She wasn’t exactly sure why she had shared her lack of excitement for the project by starting off with her being hungry, but it was already out of her mouth.

       He chewed on his lip, thinking back to the days when his grandfather punished him by depriving him of food. The clawing hunger, the stress, and how difficult it was to do the simplest of tasks in such a state left Robert frowning. And though his project partner likely hadn’t experienced anything as extreme, he understood her frustrations at that very moment. He knew what he’d wish someone would do if they knew he was hungry.  "We-- uh,” Robert pushed away the terrible feelings, and tugged at his backpack, rummaging through it as he spoke. “We have to choose a country and write a report, accompanied with a presentation on the influence America has had on them.” 

       Seconds later, he pulled out a brown paper bag. “Do you like almond macaroons?” He asked her, taking a quick glance around the room to make sure their teacher had his attention elsewhere, and turned back to Arabella as he pulled out his lunch. “If not, I’ve got some potato and egg salad you have.” Two Tupperware containers, a napkin, and fork were placed before her. “I also have some vegan chocolate protein bars,” he said, his lunch bag crinkling as he reach in once more, producing a small zip lock back of brown homemade bars. “Not sure if you’re into that stuff. ”