dyeing outside the game.

“Dude, I’d love to go flying right now, if you’re up for it! Oh, I have a question! Can you fly as a human, like, do you get the wings -- or do you have to go full pegasus to fly?”

hershey held the chocolate milk bottle to his mouth. it wasn’t even opened yet.  the empty bottle of wine sat on the seat next to him. he’d meant to drink the milk to sober himself up before he drove. the thought just woke him up again -- “milly?” he muttered, dragging his gaze up to see her. “heeeyyy, gumdrop.” hershey’s smile lasted a second before he dropped it like it was the heaviest thing in the world. “mill, can you do me a favour...can you get the keys, please. take them.” he looked at the keys lying on top of the dashboard.

hershey sniffed and rubbed his eye, the epitome of expression as opposed to juniper’s blankness. he was used to it by now, and sort of liked being able to act out a little. “i hate being sick. sick-hershey is the worst possible hershey.” he pouted in disbelief but didn’t want to press it. “well...that’s good. at least one of us is okay,” he tried for a smile. “anything cool happen today?”

“I’m gonna hold you to that when we suddenly get screamed at by whoever wants peace and quiet around here,” he chuckled, looking around them at the lounge. While the lounge was empty, it was right next to a series of dorms he hadn’t heard a peep out of since they arrived.

“Well, it’s not every day you get a pegasus for a classmate, so you kinda remember these things when you hear about them,” he grinned.

“...but, heeeeyyy, aren’t you an actual flying person, though? A pegasus?” he asked, remembering something Zane might have mentioned. “That is one heck of an advantage.”

“Oh, no way, man -- the only plane I flew I crashed in, like, two minutes.”

Hershey took off his snapback and put it to his heart, looking at the table across the cafeteria, where a boy had been dared to eat every single pie in the cafe. “Not all heroes wear capes.”

"could always make it illegal. god, i love you. and you know that just reminds me of this great song: ahem, I’M GONNA BE A MIGHTY KING -- SO ENEMIES BEWARE --”

“...since the ball. ursula,” he added, as if it needed explanation. “i called my parents. they said i should just let it...run its course.” he’d sent them a scan of himself, diagnostics and everything, all through an email. he usually didn’t like digging through his code out in the real world but that had been inevitable. “how are you feeling after the thing?”

hershey stared at all the candy he’d laid out on the table. that had been a few minutes ago, and he hadn’t touched a single one. “i dunno. i’ve been in a funk for a while. i’m great sometimes but then when i’m not it’s like...wwuuuuuhhhh...” he made a sound like a depressed foghorn.

hershey: nice to meet you too!! do u wanna meet for real, i'll get us some coke and mentos??

Hershey didn’t know how to respond, his expression frozen as if he’d been in the middle of saying something and just shut his mouth up. This was a topic he was always terrible at, he never knew what was right, what was offensive, what was too much... “That’s true, you always were a moral compass,” he said, managing his own smile. “Where would I be without you? Probably stuck in a sundae mountain somewhere, shivering my ass off, because I shot myself out of a cannon again.”