𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖎𝖓'

– THEIR HANDS FIT TOGETHER NATURALLY, the same way they used to when they were half this age. blair acts like she’s not scared of anything, like she loves the danger – but she loves the safety, too, the comfort of easily interlaced fingers. and maybe her heart softens, just a little. “ well damn, i’m sorry i have to take a rain check on that romantic date by the dumpsters, but i PERSONALLY prefer a crowded bathroom stall when it comes to planning a takedown of the patriarchy. that, or a really cozy sewer. but, you know, a dumpster’s sweet. ” blair doesn’t really know where she’s going, but she takes the lead anyway – a sort of sad metaphor for her life, but an apt comparison to her friendship with newt. he could easily tell her where he’s parked his car, but she tugs him along, meandering through the parking lot in search of his vehicle. “ a-ha ! ” she beams when she spots his car, bounding over and kicking it lightly with her shoe for good measure, “ the mothership. ” she hoists herself up onto the trunk, sitting so that her feet dangle and she’s practically eye-level with newt. the mention of LA makes her chest feel hollow with the weight of keeping secrets, and sort of ashamed. after all, she loves the way newt looks at her now, with joy and gentle admiration. the truth would end that, certainly. “ oh, not just any guy, ” she winks, “ only the cute ones. ”

he laughed at newt’s facial expression. “oh, shut up!” three little girls waiting in line for the apple picking game stared at the two of them so hard, fern felt himself start to feel embarrassed until he remember he was more than twice their age. without newt noticing – or so fern hoped – he mean mugged the three of them back causing them to fall out one by one. lowering his voice, he continued,”i didn’t mean to watch them. i really thought something else was happening – looked violent.” fern couldn’t hold in the stifled laugh that came from his own ignorance in the situation. “i’m not a fucking peeping tom, jerk off – i witnessed… a crime really. that’s illegal right?” 

– “OKAY, IT’S A GOOD THEORY, BUT YOU’RE IGNORING THE LARGER CONSPIRACY HERE,” she points a finger at him, right between the eyes as she looks at him with a nature of sincerity – as she usually does before she’s about to spin into something that’s even bigger bullshit than what deon is so earnestly spewing. “ you have to think – there’s always a bigger evil out there, and i think someone wanted to GET RID of the furbies, you know, because they knew too much,” she narrows her eyes slightly, “ you following ? ” blair leans in close, resting her hand on his kneecap, “ it’s the fucking CIA. lee harvey oswald didn’t do SHIT, you know it, i know it, those fucking furbies know it, they were probably IN ON IT, and the CIA’s got to cover their tracks before one of those fluffy guys starts squealing to the press for a bit of extra change. they’re hanging out in a chuck e. cheese for christ’s sake, they’re falling on HARD TIMES, ” you’d think she had a corkboard behind her with lines of red string, leading from furbies all the way to JFK. “ so, your chucky theory is cute and all, but that’s exactly what the government wants you to think. some petty feud between animatronics, when really, we’re talking about assassination, ” she lowers her voice at the last bit, like she’s worried she’ll get SHOT if someone overhears her. “ anyway, you can’t tell anyone or else, you know – i’d have to kill you. ” 

“look i’ll apologize, i went too far in putting that image in your head but at the end of the day it’s your fault for bringing him up of all people in your list of scenarios. you set yourself up for that and i had to take the bait, you gave me no other option.” while erin always had a flair for the dramatics it was always in a subtle way, little lies and shows she’d put on to trick people, playing the role she had designated for herself since her youth. with newt he brought out a different side of it, over the top and hilarious, the two of them always going above and beyond, and he was one of the only people who could make her smile till her mouth hurt. she had to love him for that, being one of the only people she could feel safe enough around to do that. “that’s because i mind my own business, i do my own thing and stay away from even a chance of that happening. it’s all apart of the perks of being so independent.” it was a nice way to put a spin on her having always avoided her parents, them pushing her away, making sure she’d never want to be around them in any setting. she had no reason to seek them out and accidentally see that, hiding herself in her room or spending as much time out of her home as she could. she could hardly say what her parents relationship even was, if there was love there or not, passion. her own family were strangers to her, only knowing each other in the wounds they loved to dig into each others skin. “well don’t sound so hesitant, it should be considered an honor to win me something. of all the people here i chose you for that job.” she’d rather it be him than anyone else, be able to relax without her guard up, her walls and her act a shield for her. she did it to herself, and sometimes it was fun to do, but more often than not she was exhausted by it. she was exhausted by herself and this life she found herself living, but what other option did she have but to do that? “why not? it’s just a little bit of fun, we can even place bets on who here is most likely to fall for it and give in.” despite their closeness they had very different ideas of fun when it came to such things, newt often being more of her brain than she was. erin was all impulse, jump right into things and get what she wanted, not thinking of consequences. newt was the one usually to stop her when he could, though most of the times he wasn’t quick enough, or she didn’t share soon enough for him to help. “maybe this was all just a front, me protecting myself because i know you could never love me back.” again she spoke with their over the top dramatics, wishing she had chosen newt as someone to fall for. it’d be a lot less painful than the choices she had made for herself, even if he did reject her in that other universe. “no, i would not let that happen. your hair is your signature thing, i don’t know if i’d even be able to be friends with you if you shaved it off. i’d have to buy you a wig just to make you tolerable to be around. fine, if you’re going to be so serious about the logistics of it then i’ll buy it for you personally.”

– “OH, COME ON,” A SLY GRIN CROSSES HER FEATURES AT THE SIGHT OF HIM. blair pretends to be a lot of people, but not around newt – it’s simple, like being naked, but…better. “ don’t act like you weren’t tempted, huh ? ” she winks before turning on her heel, standing behind him as she rests her chin on his shoulder, reaching her hand around to dangle the joint in front of him. “ as if you don’t want to hit this with me – cause you’re mr. goody-two-shoes now ? ” her eyebrows arch slightly before she’s moving wildly again, skipping forward until she’s walking backwards two paces in front of him. sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between when she’s fucked up and sober, the way she moves around like a marionette on a string, guided by some otherworldly force of nature. that, and her seemingly boundless energy that will diminish the second she steps behind the counter in the mall. so, she’s procrastinating – so what ? newt has arrived with the perfect distraction: his presence. and god, she adores him for it – just like she adores him for much else. she holds out her hand to him, “ then lead me to your chariot, monsieur, i don’t have all night ! ” 

even wren could tell when he had taken something too far. so he dropped the whole stick, letting himself get shoved off of kit, pretending to stumble even further away to give the two of them space. his hands going up in surrender, “dudes, come on i was kidding-” of course, wren wasn’t the funny guy. jokes weren’t his thing. it was easy for him to see why the two of them wouldn’t see it. it possibly didn’t help how poorly wren was at expressing care for people, and unfortunately, these were people he cared about. so as he was trying to explain himself, a fist came flying at his face. wren had taken a punch or two in his life. he had taken many in fact. as soon as the punch landed, wren took it, staying in place. not even reacting as if something had happened. “alright dick face, i’ll let you have that one. but you do that again i’ll fucking kick your god damn teeth in, so don’t fucking test me.” his voice was dark, his glare was intense. “look, this shit is fucking awkward, and neither of you are fucking helping. like dudes come on, not like we don’t all fucking know each other, not like we hang out with anyone else in this shitty fucking mall,” his hand ran through his shaggy curls, “you two are the buddies here so don’t fucking focus whatever the fuck y’all have on me,” he looked between them, his eyes lingering on newt. he didn’t know if newt ever told anyone they fucked around together. and he wasn’t trying to throw that mess in here too, so he hoped newt could see that through his look. that he did remember what they had gone through.

@psychefm​

“jesus christ, kit--” newt startles from where he’s honestly just attempting to wash his hands at kit’s punch, brows furrowing in his confusion for a moment as he looks between the two of them in alarm. if he knew this was what was going to happen when he went to have a piss he might have just risked the bladder infection and held it for the rest of time. newt simply watches as wren vents his frustration, still half shocked that this is even happening. he’s not sure how things got to the point of physical violence, but considering the two guys he was currently spending the afternoon in a cramped bathroom with, he supposes he should have expected it. he catches wren’s prolonged look and scans his eyes for a silent moment, jaw clenching as he bites back a lot of the things he wants to say and simply sighs deeply instead. he drops his gaze from wren’s tiredly, before he’s pursing his lips and at least attempting to diffuse the situation.  “alright, alright, let’s... all just calm the fuck down okay?” newt says as he raises both his hands in a gesture of peace. “there’s no reason to bloody deck each other or knock anyone’s teeth out. thing’s are fine.” newt pauses a moment before he’s leaning towards kit, his hand gently circling his friend’s wrist as he arches his brow in silent question. because, yes, things were terribly awkward and uncomfortable and wren was absolutely being an ass, but wren was usually a bit of an ass. so kit’s reaction still seemed a bit disproportionate for just that. “right?” newt’s thumb strokes over the inside of kit’s wrist, brow raising as he asks, “we’re fine? and... we’re going to go to the food court,” newt is truly making this up as he goes along, just... trying to somehow keep things than getting any worse than they already are. “and get ice for... wren’s... face. and kit’s knuckles. and we’re going to all forget this ever happened! we’re going to collectively agree to deeply repress this experience, and only ever bring it up years from now when it’s dredged up in intensive therapy!” newt raises his hands brightly with the words, looking between the two of them expectantly before he’s adding, “and everything will be fine. right?” 

elsie frowned at that, trying to decipher what exactly newt was referring to. “balls deep,” she muttered to herself, before it hit her and she gasped, crying out, “wait, really? people were- in there?” she looked at the ball pit in horror, and grabbed onto newt’s hand, starting to tug him as she stood up. “we, we have to do something,” elsie insisted, before raising her voice, “kids! kids, you need to get out-.”

despite the front he put up of playing the role everyone gave him, nate was a lot more than that. he didn’t think he was worth much, he didn’t think he was worth anything in all honesty, but at least he knew he was a good guy. at least he tried to be one, sometimes that got lost in translation in his jokes and his usual carefree attitude, but he did try to be good. he couldn’t do much for anyone other than give them movie recommendations and maybe some weed, but he tried to be there for the people he cared about, even if he didn’t always hit the mark. he knew what it was like to not have anyone even try with you, and he didn’t want to be like that. “i know i just did it too you, and no hard feelings, but get your hands off my shoulders.” he felt bad saying that, but it was almost too much for him, too gentle and too nice. he couldn’t handle that, the lack of it in his life before making it terrifying to him now, overwhelming. he quickly tried to make it fun again, fearful of ruining it all. “i’ve been told i’m pretty life changing in general. tend to have that effect.” he forced a smile, his overthinking and internalized stress immediately killing his high, and he was especially thankful now that they were going to smoke again. “you’re really asking me for my sources as if i didn’t flunk out of high school for not knowing how to properly cite something. you think i know anything about sources? that’s just cruel man.” he teased him, not really taking it to heart, making light of his failures as he jokingly punched newt in the arm. “hey man i’m all about that. i’m a great ego booster, to those who deserve it of course.” newt was definitely that, nate had never seen newt be anything but nice, which is more than he could say for most people. “i can agree to that.” he opened the door for newt as he replied, letting him out as he followed close behind.