SWIM!

“Are you hinting that you want a PS4 pro?” She giggles. “Maybe next time I hit the mall I could possibly maybe pick one up.”

He squinted with an unbelieving smile. “– What? Nooooooo. I was kidding.” Of course he’d like a PS4 Pro. But it was hardly affordable right now.

“Or a snowman!  OR a giant snowball!  You could be a real life Frosty! Or you could run at people and start snowball fights!” 

“Good in case of hail.  But if you fall over you might roll like a ball.” 

“Target. Honestly you cannot let me shop there alone anymore. I will furnish our home but…” She laughs softly. “We won’t need most of the crap.”

“I don’t think that we need a lot more at this point, no. Y’know what we should get though?” He smirked. “We should get get the PS4 Pro. That’d really be a great addition to our new home.”

“… blue with white poka dots and yellow bananas…” She says sheepishly. “They were cute and on sale!”

" … Blue with white poka dots and yellow bananas?” he repeated after letting out a soft snort. “They sound nice. Where did you get em?” It might not be what he’d pick, but a bed is a bed, lets be real.

She squeezes his hand and smiles. “I am soo down for that! Also I bought new blankets and an new sheet set because I cannot control myself.” 

Ben looked at the bag Zarina had been holding. His lips curled into a smile. “Really? What kinda?”

“You could wear a million sweaters so you don’t have to worry about the coat.  It would not be practical when you go in doors.” 

  “I mean, you don’t have to wear a coat.” Spoken with a small shrug. “You’d just be really, really cold.”

Trust me I’m the same way.” Zarina picks at her gloves. “It doesn’t matter where I live now, I grew up in California. This bites.”

 His hand travels to her gloved one and closes around it. “I can’t wait to get home. We should sit against the heater all day, make it like our own little California.”

Nico shrugs.  “Hasn’t it always been though?  Now it’s just more socially acceptable.”

“Luckily washing children’s mouths out with soap isn’t as much anymore,” he gave Nicolette a small smile. “Perhaps being carefree is all society sometimes needs.”

        Danny pulled a face at Ben and wiped away at the ketchup pimple himself. “You’re an asshole. I got that youthful look about me, I don’t need pimples to trick the general public.”

“Oh!  I do not mind.  I am Polish.”  

“Polish?” He raised his brows. “D’you live here now?”

“Darwinism at it’s best I suppose.”  Nico laughed along with her friend.  “Common sense has gone out the window.  I remember when soap was put in my mouth as a punishment.  Not for my own amusement.” 

Ben's laugh faded slowly away, just a polite smile remaining on his lips. “Exactly. The world has gone crazy." He remembered his aunt using soap on him too.

“The fact we’re at this point worries me.  But you’re right there’s still time to fix it.”  She shuddered.  “If these children would stop eating tide pods.” 

Ben snorted. “I mean, I don’t think anyone could fix the problem of kids eating tide pods. That’s an unstoppable force. I wish I could solve that problem more than almost anything else, I swear.” 

“True, but they are very inconvenient to lug around.” 

“True,” he agreed. “So eh – What is your mother language? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Nico snorted slightly.  “That is so sad, but so true.  I’m convinced this is how movies like Hunger Games and Divergent started.  Like we never see why these Utopian societies come about.  I’m pretty sure this is how they start.”

“Yeah, it does feel like we’re on the beginning of a dystopia, doesn’t it. How fucked is that?” He frowned. “But we’ll have to see how things work out. There’s still time to fix things.” Ben wondered how they got the conversation from kazoo’s to dystopian realities, but he couldn’t say that he minded that they did.