I'm Youth, I'm Joy

A giggle bubbled past her lips at his response, bobbing up and down a little on the balls of her feet as she tilted her head, stray strands of hair falling into her eyes as she watched what he did next. “Oh,” Rachel said quietly, her attention fully caught on the boys movements and the cardboard in his hands. She hadn’t even noticed the person sitting the ground and instantly felt bad about it, she knew all about feeling overlooked and hated to think she was making anyone feel like that. But then Peter was talking to her again and there was something quite captivating about the young man that had Rachel turning her attention back to him without a second thought. She felt herself smiling at him in excitement at his next words, so they were going to play pretend! Oh how she loved just the mere idea of that! “Yes, yes we did! How silly of us both to forget such a big detail!” Rachel tried to frown at him, shaking her head sadly, but soon felt the smile tugging back at her lips. “The best way to gain some attention would be by posing with our already famous friends, don’t you think?” She hoped she was doing this right.

The juvenile lived off of illusions. It wasn’t rare to find him lost in imagination whether it came from his own or with the help of a substance. Hence, he couldn’t be more relieved to be paired up with someone willing to play along with him. Then again, it truly didn’t matter since he always did try to make the best of the hand he was dealt with. The end goal always pertaining to bringing joy. Unbeknownst to him, some of the methods in which he does so were questionable and only really brought amusement to himself. “There’s the wife I know and love. Spoken like a true social climber.” He shot out the ‘ILY’ hand gesture. “Let's make Kim proud.” With that, he led the way to the front desk to hand over their tickets, but before entering the hall to the actual museum, he turned to face her when he noticed the lighting seemed a bit dark. “After you, my dear, but first, you should know I’m deaf. In plain English, 95 percent of the time, I will have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about unless you stand in the light. I know. I know. Probably should’ve brought that up before we got married, but hey, it's better you heard it from me than the paparazzi.”

Being someone who mostly spent mornings or afternoons in uni or at training, Cornelius often went out at night just to shake out any obligations from his system. But once he was on vacation mode, he spent the whole day out literally. All he really did in his hotel room was go to sleep and get ready for the next day. He wasn’t really one for itineraries, though, unless he had spots that he absolutely had to see. He glanced up at the other, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. “Oh yeah, there are tons of those around here. Especially around Grauman’s, I’ve seen so many mascots and impersonators there. I remember an Elmo one very clearly.” He wasn’t sure if his tone was supposed to be a bored response to his; if he didn’t want to talk to him, that was fine. But it couldn’t hurt to make a new friend. “Yeah, I’ve been here a couple of times. Not enough to remember exactly where everything is, but I try.”

There was a lot Peter could tell from a person with the way they presented. Some would call it a survival tactic, but he liked to consider it a talent. Already by the man’s clothes, he knew the person in front of him had money. It could’ve also been that he was the type to invest in clothes, neglecting everything else, but he was leaning toward the former. A detail he learned from his escort friends. It didn’t mean he was always right. After all, one look at him and people thought he was a boy with how he presented himself, specifically this last year. “Elmo, you say. No regulations, no convention. Just some random person in a bootleg costume walking down Hollywood Boulevard? I can’t imagine him being anything but a modeled citizen.” A smile inching on his lips at the image. His speculation earlier was then supported by the sentence that followed from the other. Then, the elevator doors opened and he went to step inside with an amused huff. “You could’ve had me fooled. You were hitting all the notes a tour guide would. I was already rehearsing how to turn you down since I only have a finsky.”

She tried to grab at the crinkling material when he grabbed it out of her, but, of course, her best friend was too fast. “You know I have a weakness for spice. It’s not my fault; I was born with this curse. Plus, that’s only one thing out of all this shit,” she laughs with a roll of her eyes and grabbed her own bag back with all of the things she was carrying in secret. They begin walking toward her favorite secluded place. “No, but what a wonderful guess,” she jokes back, slowing her pace slightly and allowing them to walk side-by-side.

The blonde makes an effort to maintain eye-contact when she speaks to Peter and goes on to explain what this place is like. “It’s basically these abandoned train tracks, but the train is still there and there’s all this graffiti all over it. There’s trees around too. It’s not as interesting as back home, but I like it because it’s secluded and away from everything.” Ideally, Tink would have enjoyed a little secluded treehouse or something of the like, but she hadn’t found anything like that yet. As much as she loved the cityscape of New York and all of the little nooks and crannies Peter always found, being in the forest or somewhere rural with trees and simple nothingness always gave her a sense of… calm. It was where she went when she couldn’t find her friend and her mom was pissing her off; a nearby hiking trail, of course finding her own way around off the designated trail. Tink was never one to follow the rules, even something as simple as following a cement path meant for walking atop. This place was a bit of a walk from the compound or where they were located right now, but it was worth it to her. “I’m no good at finding fun spots, but maybe we could climb in the train or something and make things interesting,” she laughs.

At her defense, Peter snickered without putting any sort of resistance when she snatches her chips back. “No kidding. I keep telling you the professor in the sky loaded you up on spice that he might’ve forgotten to add sugar to your mix,” he clicked his tongue, feigning disapproval. “You are what you eat. I mean, look at me, I eat sugar all the time, and I’m the sweetest bastard around. You should take after me, and I’m not saying this so I could eat more food off your plate. I’m saying this because I care,” he said in a matter-of-fact guise to go against the zany sentences that were coming out of his mouth. “Noted,” he gave a nod. “I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that is…a little disappointed.”

@peterpirate

When the note had been slipped under her hotel door Rachel couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement bubbling up inside her as she read it over and over again. She had never been on a date before – set up or otherwise – and here she was, getting the chance to spend a wonderful evening with a (hopefully) wonderful person, in LA no less! Patting down her dress Rachel looked up at the entrance of the museum with wide eyes, the note had said to meet at sunset and she was just on time. Blowing out a breath the blonde carefully made her way up the steps, wobbling slightly on her heels as she made it too the top. There were still people coming and going – a relief, because she had been slightly worried it would be too close to the closing time for new people to be let in. A group of teenagers walked past her and revealed a young man stood a short distance away with a sign that had her name written on. Holding in a squeal, Rachel walked over to his cautiously with a small smile, clasping her hands behind her back as she came to a stop in front of him rocking forward a little in her shoes. “Hi! I’m Rachel, I um I’m here for our date.” Now she was closer, she could read the sign fully and let out a surprised laugh at the of the sentence, “I would love to be your wife for the day!”

Had it not been for the compound, he wouldn't have acknoweldged the holiday. It wasn’t the first time he took someone off on an adventure for a night, so he knew exactly where to start it all: The Hollywood Wax Museum. He didn't think much of it beyond that. He didn’t know how this Rachel person looked, so he asked to borrow a homeless person’s sign for a few dollars. He flipped it around to the blank space and wrote her name first, figuring it was the best way to weed her out from the crowd, before going above and beyond by asking her to be his pretend wife for the day. How she would react to it would tell him all he wanted to know. Fortunately, she didn’t keep him waiting too long for him to grow bored. Before he knew it, the blonde was walking toward him, and her body language alone gave him an inkling that she was his date. His cochlear implants weren’t in due to do the area being a booming tourist spot, so when she introduced herself, he had to rely on what he had been used to years: lip-reading. “Oh, thank god. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could put up with our awkward stage of the relationship.” He joked. “The name’s Peter. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to pay a debt.”  It was then he turned to the person he got the sign from that was sitting nearby to give him the cardboard back before walking over to Rachel. “Alright, now, we’re completely debt free as newlyweds. Oh, wait,” he snapped his fingers in second thought. “No,” he went to pull out the two tickets from his pocket to the museum, “I almost forgot. We blew all our money to come here and make it big in Hollywood, didn’t we?”

Of course, she had to laugh along with him. “When haven’t we?” she responds, smiling anything up at the other person. Tink was always following anything her best friend did and there wasn’t anything that could stop her now. Ever since they had met, he seemed like the kind of person who knew what they were doing. It was the exact opposite of herself, especially in those same past years. And the fact that he still wanted to hangout with her? That was the real kicker for Tink, and one of the things that made her fall for this person so hard. They still wanted to spend time with her despite all of her obvious flaws. He’d seemed to creep his way into her heart and never leave. This soft spot she had for Peter was also one of reasons she let him get away with stuff Tink would never let others do. For example, using her as a human arm rest. Anyone else and the girl would have promptly shoved them off, but when it was Peter, to the blonde, at he had himself against her; closeness was always something Tink wanted with a person.

“You should be feeling lucky; I do this all for you, Peter,” the girl laughs again, this time pushing him off of her, but in the next moment handing over some of the things she was barely keeping from falling on the ground. He was the leader, always, so it wasn’t a surprise when her best friend began leading them on their way… almost. For some reason, he asked her opinion, and though this was a shock to Tink, she knew exactly the place. A smile spread across her face as the blonde says, “Come with me.” Upon the start of her leading the way, the tiny girl feels as smug as ever, and that shows with her walking. She turns her head ‘round over her shoulder to continue their conversation, her emotions probably obvious. Tink never one to keep them hidden from anyone. “This place always make me think of you. That’s dorky, but it’ll be that much better now that we’re together and can share it with each other,” the blonde smiles.

It should’ve been as clear as a bell. The blonde was hardly a poet when it came to her sentiments. There was a lot she did for him. It went without saying he felt how much she cared for him, but there was one emotion the raven-haired never truly had a grasp on. He didn’t even know what that emotion meant within himself, so he could never send it out. Love. It seemed to entail a lot of what he had been avoiding in the first place, anyway. It didn’t matter. He was doing fine without it. Or so, he liked to believe. It was how he coped with all rejection he’d received from all of his foster parents. When it came down to it, he didn't even think about it and being exposed to the underbelly of society at a young age certainly enabled that world view. “Hey, hey, woah, hey, woah...hey, what is this,” he plucked one of the bags in his hand to lift up, “I see?” He held it up to her before turning it to face him, squinting to read it despite really not needing to. “Jalapeño kettle chips? That’s all you, fairy girl.” He knew what she meant by her statement, but it was more fun to tease her about it. “I rest my case.”

In seeing the bounce in her steps, he shook his head with a huffing chuckle. It was true the streets were where he spent most of life, so he knew it wouldn’t be long before he found his way around in Sacramento. However, first night in, it had already started off in a high note with seeing his go-to-girl. Their little clash in between had already been put behind them, so he didn’t want to risk finding fool’s gold when Tink already knew of a gem. His empty stomach definitely had a role in that decision. Though, places he considered to be gems in cities weren’t the most traditional. They fit into two categories: abandoned places or hideouts. They could overlap, but it wasn’t always the case. Even if she was taking him some place else completely, his interest didn’t falter. The brown-eyed rogue enjoyed surprises. They allowed the mind to explore all kinds of possibilities whether grounded or not. An eyebrow quirked when she told him the place reminded her of him. “Don’t tell me it’s a shrine.” He joked as he picked up his pace to walk alongside her to make it easier to communicate. It was then he gave her a nudge with his elbow. “What, is it like Hangman’s Tree?”

If there was any place in America Cornelius could call home, it was Los Angeles. His family had even bought a house thirty minutes away because of how frequently they visited, whether it be because of his mother’s TV show or if his father had any appearances for book tours. The city felt like a second home to him, so coming back with Astra felt pretty special. He’d taken the time to unpack his things and make sure his hotel room was fixed properly before slipping out, the midday sun shining through the window next to the elevator. He greeted his fellow Astranaut when he saw them waiting for the elevator too, a small grin on his face. “So, you ever been here before? LA, I mean?”

There wasn’t much for him to unpack at the hotel, but even then, he didn’t do it. Instead, he went straight to bed. It wasn’t his kind of scene to be up so early in the city. In his eyes, there was nothing aesthetically pleasing about cities until the buildings faded into the night sky to make twinkling lights of their own. Nevertheless, he enjoyed them just as he enjoyed the outdoors. It was only after school hours when he arose to start his day. He’d been on his phone face timing a friend about Neverland Valley Ranch that was a three-hour drive from Los Angles. While waiting for the elevator, he caught someone walking toward him but didn’t pay no real attention until his implants picked up their voice all while catching their reflection in the doors. He signed that he'd call them later as he turned to the other. “Have I been here?" He repeated. "No, but I expect to see Leonardo DiCaprio taking a stroll in the Walk of Fame. Or a knock-off." He deadpanned. "Have you?"

Tink knew what was up; these typical kinds of ruses weren’t uncommon for Peter, so the girl tried to suppress the smile that was itching to appear on her face. She nodded, proceeding to look casually at the various bags of chips that were sitting next to them. Hearing Peter talk and then run out of the building, notified to her by the dinging of the bell that every gas station seemed to have these days, Tink quietly took a few bars of chocolate candy and shoving them silently into her combat boots. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but not enough to make the wrapper of the candy wrinkle loudly and blow her cover. She smiled at the realization, then walked easily up and down the isles, seeming to peruse the food, gum, and drinks all around her. It wasn’t a complete lie, she was deciding what she was going to take with her next, but, obviously, wasn’t going to pay for. Soon enough, trying not to seem too obvious to rush out of the place but also trying not to keep Peter waiting for too long, Tink hid some smaller bigs of doritos, cheetos, and jalapeño kettle chips in her jacket. The blonde cursed herself for not wearing her bigger jacket today and putting on the fake leather one instead.

The girl nodded at the cashier on her way out, but didn’t give him a chance to ask her about the food she’d left previously up front. He could put it away later; she wasn’t about to try and have a conversation about it now. When Tink made eye-contact with Peter again, she smiled widely and thought about opening up the insides of her coat to show what she’d got for them, but then thought better about it. That would be too obvious. Finally, for once in her life, Tink had thought before she acted, and the girl surprised herself. “Adjective here, noun there, you’ve got it on lock, Peter. I wish I had as much as skill as you do,” she laughed. “If I hadn’t have met you, I think my life would be more of a mess than it already is.”

Robbing a place didn’t give him the same high as it once did. Much like his addiction, he found himself in the same cycle where he just kept doing it in hopes that it’d resurrect that rush. It never did, but it was close. Along with that, there was never a dull moment by having Tink at his side. She never did shame him like others did by labeling him as a no-good rotten kid. A mold easy to fit into growing up with no one having any other expectation. Instead, she spoke highly of him. She always made him out to be someone spectacular as did his gang, and it was that role he’d gladly play despite deep down, somewhere where he didn’t even know, feeling otherwise. It was a feeling he didn’t realize existed within himself after so long.

When she sang the same tune, he couldn’t hold back the smile playing on his lips. “You wouldn’t be the first person to aim for the sky,” his cockiness once again making an appearance, but he laid it on thick for a comedic effect as confirmed by his laugh. He then walked over to her side, putting his arm over her head as an armrest to tease her, “Well,” he tilted his head to look down at her, “it’s a good thing we live in the now, huh?” He ruffled her hair. It was only then he noticed how uncomfortable she look carrying the snacks she stuffed in her jacket. “I think Willy Wonka got it wrong when he said it goes wrong with the deserts, Violet Beauregarde,” he chuckled, taking a few things off her hands. He couldn’t have her walk around like that. It would draw attention to what they did, but he made sure to not look suspicious doing it. “Onward!” He called out as if he were some general, pointing with the Snicker’s bar to a random direction to walk. This usually meant finding a fire escape to climb and have a picnic, but then, he realized something. For once, Tink knew an area better than he did, so he turned his head to look back at her. “Know of any hidden treasures?”

Tink didn’t understand why Peter was so off-put by this. To her, he didn’t seem to want to partake in the new friends that she’d made during her time here, but, on the other hand, the girl could make assumptions as to why that was. For their entire friendship they’d stuck together – no one could ever come between them or break them apart, so did he think that this would be something that causes her to drift away? Tink didn’t know; she didn’t know what he was thinking. Quite frankly, she didn’t really want to know either. And when he made her look at him, everything seemed to wash away like the snap of someone’s fingers. The moment her eyes met his, Tink’s entire body seemed to loosen up and relax. Apparently eyes were her weakness because just like Terence’s blue ones, Peter’s brown ones were just as mesmerizing. They always had been – if the girl could stare into his eyes until the end of time she would without a second heartbeat. It was awesome – the physically looking itself – but the fact that Tink knew (and by that, she meant tried to be realistic with herself – because she’d always have a secret hope that maybe he’d love her in the same way that was desperately in love with him) Peter would never feel the same way about her sucked. It sucked ass. And broke her heart a million times over in a moment like this. Being this overemotional little fuck would always be a disadvantage in the girl’s mind.

His promise kind of made Tink feel better about the situation, but it was still pretty tense between them it seemed like. Either way, because it didn’t matter what mood they ended at, she figured Peter would somehow try to switch the situation into something more interesting, and lo and behold here they were. Moving onto something else. Whatever. She was internally annoyed, but Tink held in the eye-roll dying to show its face to the light of day. “Alright, fine.” Drawing in a semi-deep breath, gently ruffling Peter’s hand off of her head and looking at the bad of cheetos in her best friend’s hand. “Were you planning on buying those or,” she pauses and looks around, leaning up to whisper in his ear, “Are they just coming with us?” Tink smiles, making the assumption in her mind that it was going to be the latter.

This wasn’t what he had in mind when being reunited with Tink, or rather, the thought only came after the dissonance. There had never been a need for that sort of thing before. It didn’t matter if weeks or months went by without seeing his fairy girl. It would always be a smooth transition to get back into the swing of things as if time had never passed, so when it didn’t happen, it brought into perspective exactly how much time had gone by. For someone who lost track of time as a lifestyle, it was strange to be reminded of that, and now, he agreed to meet Terence and Zarina. Friends of hers that he never even knew existed until minutes ago. A term she wouldn’t use for any one of his Lost Boys. Instead, she’d keep a distance unless he’d pull her to join them or bid them adieu. He didn’t think much of it before. He never questioned it, figuring it was just Tink being Tink, but as much as he liked to believe he saw right through her, he saw right past her love for him.

It wasn’t something he wanted to ponder for any longer. How she felt about it was present in her voice. Peter wasn’t oblivious to it, but it wasn’t a problem he had to face once she took the bait. He let his hand fall to his side when she gave a light shake, but despite his relief, a smile continued to be lost from his face due to the underlying tone. It took her pointing out the items he held for him to think back to what he had planned, so upon hearing her question, he suppressed the smirk edging on his lips to not raise eyebrows. Simply, he gave a nod to the latter followed by a wink. He let his eyes roam the room nonchalantly before handing her the bag of chips plus another for her along with the coke. He knew he didn’t have to tell her anything for her to know what to do. Seeing as they were the only two in the store now, he knew the cashier had their eyes on them, so he began to back away from her, stuffing a Snicker’s bar into his pocket in the process, “Look, I’ll meet you out. I’m going to get a pack of cigarettes for my mom.” He raised his voice enough for the cashier to hear, but not too loud to make it seem like he was covering for something. It was then he walked up to the front to talk to the person behind the counter only to pretend he had forgotten which brand it was. “Shit, and I forgot my phone,” he patted his pockets in a panicked fashion. “Fucking shit...Uh, I’ll be right back!” A lie he said as he rushed out of the convenience store, muttering to himself to sell the act. It wasn’t until he stepped out and turned the corner when he relaxed. “One of these, Tink, I’m going to turn to Mad Libs to see what bullshit I can get away with saying. It's getting too easy.”

“A complete and utter disaster,” Angelina replies automatically. The person standing before her is completely unfamiliar, she’s certain she hasn’t even seen them in passing, which makes things significantly more embarrassing for her. This is definitely not what she wants someone to associate with first meeting her. Using the mouse, she navigates it to the red ‘x’ button on the corner of one of the pop-ups and repeatedly clicks it to no avail, several more just pop up in its place. She hasn’t even stopped to look at what sort of content the pop-ups are showing but to her it hardly matters, what she really wants is to stop the sound that’s blaring from the computer speakers. Other people in the room have started to glare at her but no one else seems like they’re going to approach, she smiles apologetically at several at them. She has no choice but to turn to the stranger and ask for their help. “I don’t suppose you know anything about computers?” She asks, pushing her chair back so that he can join her in front of the screen. “I was just trying to get to the web browser and all the sudden all of these boxes start popping up. I keep trying to shut them but more just keep popping up.” She drops her head into her hands and emits a shuddering sigh. She should have insisted on calling her mother on the phone earlier, she had no idea why the woman had wanted to send emails in the first place, it was much more inconvenient, especially because Angelina had little to no experience with computers. “And why do they have to make such obnoxious sounds? I think I’m starting to get a headache.” 

It wasn’t an anomaly to find him in chaotic situations. He was like a magnet to them, albeit the cause of them too, so when he saw the pop-ups were a bunch of “Congratulations! You won!”, it was disappointing. With the dread on her face, he expected more risqué content, not this lackluster. It wasn’t even worth a chuckle. His thoughts lingered on the screen until she pushed her chair back. Without his implants, he wasn't able to catch her first question, but seeing the space she made for him, he knew what she wanted. He lip-read the rest of what she had to say as best as he could until he realized she was explaining her situation. “Clearly, you’ve never played Minesweeper,” he popped what was left of the persimmon into his mouth to hold, mimicking that of an orange wedge smile. He could feel the glares at his lack of urgency, but he was past the point of caring about what other's thought of him. He decided to piss them off even more by leaning over to click on more pop-ups unashamedly. It wasn’t his fault they all decided to stay seated, and frankly, he couldn’t care less what the girl in the chair thought of it. It was only after he felt they got the message when he took the slice out of his mouth, straightened up, and pulled the plug from the wall with his foot to shut down. It wasn’t the safest way to go about it, but he didn't care. “There you go,” he went back to chewing, not realizing she had been talking to him.

Tink wasn’t sure if Peter was truly paying attention – or caring for that matter – to her stories by the way he was eyeing the food he withheld, but she tried to ignore her inklings. They could very well be wrong, so the girl tried not to stay caught up on her insecurities. “Terence is not a blockhead.” She didn’t know why she was getting so frustrated with her best friend right now; there was really no reason to respond this way. But, once again, her emotions were out to play and they weren’t going to stay hidden easily. Tink sighed a little, throwing down her hands parallel to her legs, looking up at the ceiling and then back at Peter after trying to pull herself together. His next question was met with a shocked expression. “Did what? Have sex with him?! No, Peter, God, no! That’s so gross why would you even say that?!” She repeatedly punched him in the chest – obviously not hard enough for it to legitimately hurt (Tink was too weak to even hurt a fly) – but it was this suggestion that brought Terence and her’s kiss back to mind. Secretly, inside, Tink remembered just how great the kiss felt; the anticipation and slight fear she felt as their lips were held with such a small distance between them, the drunkenness of the moment amping everything up. Clearly the high of Peter’s return to her had made the girl forget about such a revelation in her life, and it was one that the blonde didn’t know if she should make Peter aware of – at least not right now. Maybe her friend would get upset later on if they knew she withheld this from them, but that was something for a later time. A little guilt hit her as Tink brought up something else, but she tried her best to push it down. “Look, you just need to cooperate with me here, okay?” Giving Peter an honest, serious look, she hoped he’d give in to her right now. “They’re really cool, okay? You just have to meet them. I’m not saying soon, but eventually. Can you just promise me that? Please?”

“No, he’s a doofus,” he quipped, seizing the opportunity to embrace the Three Stooges humor without so much as a second thought. It wasn’t that he was actively trying to push his limits with her temper. Making jokes at the expense of others was standard, and it had never backfired with the blonde before. However, he’d grown so accustomed to being her only friend that he never paid attention to how defensive she could get when it came to those she cared about, and it didn’t strike him that he might’ve been making it worse instead of better. Rather, his mindset determined that something had to stick to get her to smile, but when he didn’t get the desired effect, he decided to mark this all as uncharted waters. One that made him question what had gotten into her as her fists made contact with his chest at the mere suggestion of her sleeping with the person. It would’ve been an action that would’ve easily triggered his dysphoria had it not been for his top surgery numbing the sensation in that area as well as flatten it, but luckily, now, it brought the opposite reaction. It emboldened him. A feeling he couldn’t relish in with how she was reacting, and he knew she wasn’t being dramatic to be entertaining. With his free hand, he placed it on the top of her head to tilt her head to make her look at her him as he nudged her back with a hesitant chuckle, “You didn’t have to get all keyed-up about it. I mean, really, a ‘Go Fish’ would’ve done. You just had a look.” He knew euphoria when he saw it, but with how Tink was looking at him now, he decided to leave it at that. It was a look usually reserved for those late night talks, so how important it was to her didn’t go over his head. The reason behind it, however, did, and for her to be reacting the way she was, it didn’t sit well with him. "Okay, I promise,” he crossed his heart with his pinky. “Now, what do you say we pig-out and fly into the night?”

I saw you eyeing those cheetos at the gas station. Here’s some more for the best friend in the entire world. I know Valentine’s day sucks, but at least I have you to make it that much better.

Let’s fuck shit up and ruin some couples’ day, Your fairy girl…

Feeling him struggle, Ty pressed down harder.  Tired as she was (her beauty sleep was very important – couldn’t the intruder at least be polite enough to do this when she was more awake?), she was determined to not let him get the better of her.  When he laughed, though, she scrunched up her eyebrows.  That wasn’t how most people reacted to getting pinned to the floor (in an attack context, at least).  Maybe he was just weird.

“Welcoming co – oh!”  Her eyes widened, and she suddenly felt more awake as she realized who he most likely was.  She almost got off of him, but she had to be sure first.  He could just be tricking her or something, after all.  Azula would definitely be disappointed in her if she was dumb enough to let someone break into her apartment and then get away with it, if he actually was an intruder instead of her new roommate.  “Wait, are you Peter?  You’re late!  Why are you just getting here at three in the morning?”  He was definitely weird, she decided.

Peter felt her grasp on him ease up a little, but it wasn’t enough for him confidently push her off. Chances were even one small jerk would cause her to resume the position she had on him, so it seemed the raven-haired firecracker had to rely on his smooth talk. A feat he’d done countless times of which he had never failed, or so, he fooled himself into believing by convincing himself the outcome he got was the one he wanted.

“This could also be your kink, come to think of it,” he started with a ‘note to self’ delivery despite it clearly being directed at her to poke fun at the situation, but it overlapped with her last question. “This is the part I tell you that I’m deaf, so whatever the hell you’re telling me comes to a full stop at the ears.” It was then he tried to rack his brain for the name they gave him when they told him about his roommate. “I could also be talking to myself,” he admitted, resting his head against the floor as he tried to think of the name. “Eon? Leeeeonn. Loosen up if I am getting close.”

She chuckled at his joke, wishing it could come from something more funny, but it was what it is. Peter would tell her what this was all about eventually because, of course, he had to be the one to lead. He always was. Normally Tink didn’t mind this, but some days, like today, it got on her nerves a little bit and she wished he would take her concerns seriously sometimes. Though she didn’t care enough to risk harming their friendship; definitely not enough for a problem like that to arise. Avoiding her feelings was a true Tink Bellanger motto.

Animation danced all over her face as the girl was telling her stories, eventually moving toward the two closest people in her life since leaving New York. The people whose names Peter had mysteriously “forgotten” the names of in two seconds. Tink rolled her eyes. “No. Terence and Zarina.” She crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance, tapping her eyes. The dramatic expressions were gone now. When he tapped her, she eased up a bit uncrossing her arms and looking him in the face. “Gosh, I don’t even remember.” Tink paused, rubbing her chin and looking upward while she dug deep in her memory. “I guess Zarina walked up to my door when Astra fucked it all up with birthday decorations, and Terence? … Terence I met him walking in the woods at night. No, no! I guess the first time we met was at a coffee shop.” There was laughter at the memory. “Yeah, he fucking spilled coffee on me… what a doofus.” The goofy smile on her face probably gave away a lot of how Tink felt in this moment, but she didn’t even realize the expression she was projecting to the world around her.

Many would credit his slip up to his hearing impairment, if not all, but Tink knew better. She knew him. The same could’ve easily been said the other way around, but when his wordplay wasn’t met with a chuckle, it showed otherwise. He got a little rile out of her instead, and it confused him. Out of all things he’d done to tease her, he didn’t expect that to be one of her tipping points, but fortunately, some semblance of familiarity was brought back when she eased up. She never could stay sour around him.

His eyes took a peek at the batch of Cheetos in his hands all while she thought over his question, but a puzzlement of his own washed over his features when he picked out a Cheeto that had a familiar shape he couldn’t quite pin down. Aloof, he appeared to anyone that glanced in their direction, but after being around her so long and knowing her speech patterns, he didn’t need to look at her to understand what she was saying, especially when she was facing him. In truth, he wasn’t necessarily interested in how they met, but he figured having her talk about them would give him a better grasp of her relationship with them. A notion that was proven right after he heard her laughter when talking about Terence, and at that moment, he drew his attention back to her features to find the unexpected. The answer to his earlier misstep. “Huh,” he huffed in slight amusement despite his hesitance. “Well, what do you know. I guess there’s a thin line between a doofus and a blockhead.” The latter being a term which he called some of his Lost Boys for being uncoordinated to put it lightly, but he couldn’t leave it at that. It was an expression he wasn’t a stranger to. One that came when certain people spoke about him, so it was strange to see Tink have it when talking about someone else. It piqued his curiosity. “You didn't-Did you?” His foul mouth for once having trouble speaking.

Ty was excited to have a roommate.  Having her own space was nice, but she was a social person by nature, and living alone for six months was starting to get to her a little bit.  Even a stranger would be better; anyway, she was friendly.  They wouldn’t be a stranger for very long.  Right now, though, all she knew about her roommate was his name and that he would be arriving today.  She hoped he was nice.  

Since her new roommate – Peter, his name was – was arriving today, she decided to tidy up just a little bit and then wait for him to arrive so she could greet him properly.  Unfortunately, the evening came and went, and by eleven o’clock she decided she would rather not sacrifice her own sleep schedule; she could greet him in the morning.  

Ty wasn’t a particularly heavy sleeper though, so when she heard noise in her living room, she was up.  Still half-asleep despite her alertness, she didn’t stop to think about the expected newcomer.  All she knew right then was that there was a stranger in her living room, and it was three o’clock in the morning.  The intruder’s back was to her, which was good – she had the advantage.  Moving silently as she could, she delivered a swift kick under his legs to knock him down, pinning him underneath her.

Rarely could one find Peter’s guard down in Chicago. Even without his implants, he’d listen to his gut because the conditions in which he lived called for him to be on high alert. It became part of his day to day life with the activities he was involved in, but after stepping foot in Sacramento, the area felt safer in comparison. It wasn’t saying much, but it had partly to do with why he soon found himself pinned down against with the floor. In addition, going in and out of places as he pleased with no qualms to tell anyone was a particularly bad habit.

“The fuck-” It was the initial shock that had him struggle to reach for the new pocket knife he’d bought after the TSA confiscated his old one, but soon, the realization hit him. Accompanied by it, an airy laugh, reminding him once again why he was against having a roommate, but he had no control over that. The program had probably been convinced it was in his best interest. “Either I’m under arrest, or my probation officer’s going to love you and your idea of a welcoming committee.”

Peter’s voice caused a groan from the girl, and she crossed her arms. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” It one-hundred percent wasn’t fine, but she knew that voice; it was the voice that Peter had when he didn’t want to think about something and Tink did. It was a voice that needed to be avoided, at least for right now; she didn’t want to piss him off right after reuniting. It would crush her. Instead, she ignored the subject, letting her face ease up when they lifted a pinky finger. “Alright,” Tink responded, linking her own in his and letting the situation drop. If he wanted to talk about it later, then fine. Whatever. It was no big deal… none at all.

“A typewriter? Excuse me, what year is it again? 1982?” It was a terrible comparison – the girl having minimal sense of reality or not really caring to put things into perspective anyway – but Tink laughed at herself anyway, listening to Peter’s directions as they walked back into the cheap 7-11. She followed obediently as they walked up and down aisles, recalling all of the experiences she’d had while being at Astra so far. “I already told you about the birthday fiasco on Skype. God, that was such a mess. But oh!” She jumped in front of Peter, throwing her arms out to the sides in order to stop his walking. “I have to tell you about Terence! And Zarina! They’re my friends here!” Her voice was incredibly excited; Tink’s best friend meeting her other close friends?! What a dream come true! “You have to meet them! They’ll love you!”

With a lock of their pinkies, the story was agreed to be shelved for a later time. It didn’t come from a mutual understanding, but he was completely fine with it. It was his story to tell, and he wanted to share it on his own terms. It was a story that deserved to be met with laughter, not melancholy. Granted, what came of it wasn’t as jovial, but it didn’t stop him from making light of it. He could only hope Tink wasn’t going to mull over it, or he’d simply have to be the distraction he was ever so good at playing. To which, her laughter came as planned. “They had me believing it was with Pornstache in the room,” he let out a huff in amusement at the absurdity as he opened the glass door from the reach-in cooler to take out a Coke. With it in hand, he raised the bottle up to his nose to pretend to snort it out of mindless fun as he listened to her trying to catch him up on what had been going on with her. He tucked the bottle under the pit of his arm when he strolled over to the section of chips. Although, he made sure glance over at her every other word she spoke to fully understand what she was telling him. It was a bit more difficult with his back turned to her.

“Mm,” his tight-lipped smile said about all he felt about that situation, reaching over to grab a bag of chips. He opened the bag to see if it was a good batch, but his eyes didn’t have enough time to examine them when her burst of excitement cut his trail. It was a rare sight to see Tink excited to talk about others. Though, rare would be putting it lightly. Even with his gang, Tink had a way of secluding herself from the majority, so it came to as a surprise that in the span of a year she’d made friends. Friends she’d want to introduce to him, no less. It was usually the other way around, and he was particularly selective about who he interacts with on a daily basis. What if he didn’t want to meet them? "Clarence and Sabrina?” He repeated after her, purposefully butchering their names. When she continued by adding that they’d love him, he tapped the top of her head lightly as if to say ‘duh’. “Of course. What’s not to love? How’d you meet them, anyway?” The last part came off a little defensive.