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“They really need to come up with a better place to get coffee here. It’s like they don’t even take it seriously.” Callie said mostly to herself as she looked at her coffee cup. 

“Maybe you could work there and show them how it’s done.” His sigh was soft as he lifted his own cups to lips but paused to speak again. “Though making it yourself is entirely out of the question, right?”

“I was five when it happened, My right hook wasn’t as good as it is now.” She shrugged. 

"That’s no excuse,” he huffed and shook his head in disapproval. Granted if others had an easier youth Finn could only sympathize with those similar to his own despite his words spoken in a joking manner. When he was five... he wasn’t five anymore but he knew how to fend for himself then. “Maybe your payback is yet to come. That’s fair, isn’t it?”

“What? Oh, no! No no no no, I’ve… never shot one before,” Alice admitted, laughing nervously at even the idea of even holding one of those things. She would look ridiculous, and that was something Alice loathed doing. “Not even a paintball gun!”

“So?” Finn moved out of the way to allow his new roommate a chance. “The pellets are small and the gun is tethered to the banister. You can’t hurt anyone, not even yourself. You can only lose but there’s a trick to getting it right. Go on.”

“I missed that lecture in school.” She probably did too. Instinctively Shelby leaned forward and allowed him to steal a kiss. It was selfishness that drove her to steal some of it back for herself. She probably tasted like cotton candy for all she had consumed. “I was looking around. Getting a feel for the place and some of the people.” It wasn’t entirely a lie but Shelby wasn’t going to divulge the secret of her blackmail to Finn. With the second bear in tow she moved closer and brushed her shoulder against his. “What if I blow in your ear while you try to shoot?”

The answer didn’t settle right at first [ the time didn’t match the deed ]. If it was anyone else he would have pressed for more explanation but for Shelby his trust was easily given that the suspicion disappeared a heartbeat after it came. He was too focused on the target and the strategy to win, how near she was to him and the lingering sweetness on his lips. He leaned into her touch, head resting on the edge of her shoulder before returning to aim. “You want me to lose? I guess I’ll have to do my best and prove you can’t distract me.”

Leo could feel himself getting defensive, but he suppressed the urge to sass the guy back. “Be my guest,” he acquiesced, making an exaggerated gesture of moving out of the way. The other male seemed overconfident to Leo, which put him off slightly.

A quick smile and no spoken ‘thank you’ Finn tried his money against the machine. Had he the luxury of video games when he was younger, his hand-eye coordination could have easily be envied. This wasn’t as simple as point-and-shoot, aim-and-fire. Pinball required patience and timed reactions Finn rarely exercised unless the circumstances were right. He lost before barely making half of the other boy’s score and with it his temper. His hand smashed down on the glass in anger and quickly stepped to the side. “How did you do it?”

Alice had wanted to spend some time getting to know her new roommate, since they would be spending a lot of time together anyway. When he pitched the shooting gallery, Alice wasn’t that sure, since she kind of thought guns were gross, but she agreed to watch. When she saw him completely obliterate the star, her jaw dropped. She had to force it shut before shaking her head and answering “I’m not taking that bet, I’d lose. Remind me never to piss you off.”

“Yeah, you’d lose,” he agreed. He laughed a little too hard at her remark, a little too genuine for the double meaning it meant to him. Had she known that was how to win the rigged shootout she might not have thought it but it was still amusing. “It’s just a game. Why don’t you try it? See if you can do it. I’ll even tell you how to win.”

“How ironic.” Shelby appeared something like an apparition with an overstuffed bear in her arms. Of course it was won by her room mate and of now skill of Shelby’s own but it didn’t matter. Her arms were wrapped around the trunk of it and her chin pillowed into the head. He was always better at carnival games than she was. “You should totally do it again. Then we should get some cotton candy and make out on the ferris wheel.”

“I don’t think that’s what irony is.” His face was already beaming at the sound of her voice and brightened as he took in the full scene. How natural it was to lean in over her new friend and steal a kiss. How it spoke volumes to worry from moments before wiped away. “I like that idea,” he agreed and handed off his bear to focus back on the air pellet gun. “I was looking for you but I figured after a while you’d find me. I knew was right. Where’ve you been?”

“Amusing for people who weren’t scared by the clown from It by their friends older brother.” Kennedy began to walk. “You never had a fear of clowns or asshole people in your life that would scare you?”

“No fear of clowns but I’ve known shitheads who did more than scare you. A person painted in makeup isn’t anything like that, even if it’s from... that.” With the final word Finn’s mouth snapped close and stopped anything else [ any admission he didn’t understand the reference ] from letting loose. “Still not worth the punch. Sounds more like you should punch the people that scared you.”

Leo shrugged, leaning his back against the machine. “I don’t know, maybe lying and saying you saw nothing?” he chuckled before shaking his head. “The pain had no gain. I didn’t even beat the high score.”

“Yeah, I saw everything. So what, you’re gonna give up now?” Finn continued his approach until he was close to the other, certainly too close to be comfortable and asserted himself in front of the arcade game. “If you’re gonna give up so easily mind if I try?”

Kennedy quickly got dressed and walked over to the other male. “Have you met a good clown?” She asked him.

“Yeah, I have,” he replied. A version of what he spoke was true but perhaps not in the same imagery. Finn gestured to the hall, an after you insistence to get moving. “I wouldn’t hurt the thing just for being a clown. It’s a job, right? They’re supposed to be amusing.”

Leo was just ten thousand points away from beating the high score on the Simpsons pinball machine when he lost his last ball. “SHIT!” he exclaimed, hitting the side of the machine with hand. He then flicked his wrist, waving his hand back and forth.

That hurt.

He then looked up to see someone watching him. “Exactly how long have you been standing there?”

“What answer would make you feel comfortable?” The smile was slow to come to his face while he looked back and forth between man and machine. His arms originally folded across his chest fell to his side as he moved closer. “You were invested. That fun to hurt yourself over?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go to the carnival! Just let me put some clothes on.” Kennedy said. She looked at the person and smiled. “Oh, and if a clown comes up to me, I’m punching it in the face.”

“Don’t make it sound like someone’s pulling your leg,” he remarked. He set himself against the door, with brows knit together. Who left their door open undressed unless they were begging for attention. How many times did she do this to just be ‘happened upon’. “Besides, what did a clown ever do to you?”

[ content tw for physical abuse, emotional abuse, maltreatment by a parental figure, and underage sexual activity ]