Augustus Bernard | ᛏ Tīwaz ᛏ (oathretractor) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-06-15 19:09:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | eris, tyr, uke mochi |
there's a lot of talk
Who: BB, Gusgus, & Alice.
What: The love triangle goes minigolfing.
Where: Golfland, except we'll pretend it's closer than Anaheim.
When: June 3rd, mid-afternoon
BB's tongue curled around her lip as she lined up her neon pink putter to its matching neon pink ball, aiming to hit it precisely through a small doorway of a windmill, when said windmill's blades were periodically blocking said entrance. She was, for the moment, ignoring the fact that her brother had called home to warn their father about sordid events going on at Pax, which led to their father calling her and giving her an unneeded talking to, which led in turn to her chewing out her brother. And then, randomly, inviting them all (them all including her bff, Alice, not Jill, like those silly commercials) out for minigolf.
Clearly, they all needed some breathing room from the apartment complex. And she and Gus needed something to help remind them of the bonds of siblinghood, no matter how annoying they were to one another. And right now, with her concentration solely on the ball, BB could feel herself loosening up after the strange things happening -- Alice coughing up seeds, Max's teeth changing, the odd and unsatisfying trip to CASKET, Daniel's broken leg. It was a lot to handle, even for someone who ran a gossip rag for a living.
BB carefully pulled the putter back, trying to time her shot accordingly, and was rewarded when the ball sailed gracefully through the entrance and toward the hole. She did not, as she'd hoped, gain a hole in one, but a birdie was the next best thing. With a fistpump, she turned, pointing at Gus. "OK, little bro, just try to beat that." She stepped back, clearing the mat for the next participant.
Whoever invented putt-putt golf must have had a death wish in mind. This game was two shades away from being as much of a bond-breaker as Monopoly. Naturally, BB would choose it--but at least it presented an opportunity for Gus to get out of his typical daily routine now that summer was in full force...and it afforded him an extra night with Alice as well. Besides, he wasn’t too keen on staying home when dead bodies felt like inviting themselves in through the front door of Pax. Dad had told him to be careful, hadn’t he?
Gritting his teeth and stepping forward, Gus held the blue-handled putter in his hands, eyeballing the small golf ball in front of him. Brows pinched together in concentration, he tossed a quick look at his smug older sister. “Yeah, well, watch this,” he retorted with a confident smirk, one which he often felt necessary to employ when around either of his older siblings. There was no toeing the line when it came to beating, or trying to beat, either of them at anything whatsoever. Tapping the golf ball after a measured assessment of the distance between it and its future destination, Gus watched as it traveled along the green, bumping just slightly into one of the walls.
Still, it was close enough for him to likely make it into the hole on his next shot.
“Your turn,” Gus warmly said to Alice, stepping away so that she might take center stage. “You’ve got to like. Angle the ball just right and some kinda math’ll do the rest.”
Alice laughed, “Thanks,” she said dryly, but the smile still lingered on her face as she stepped past Gus, her shoulder bumping into the side of his arm lightly, and took her position with her orange ball and matching putter. Just like my hair Alice thought after the Bernard siblings picked the other two colors she would’ve gone for. Still, the bright orange ball certainly made it easy to find which came in handy because Alice was not skilled at mini golf.
She shuffled about, trying to size up a perfect opportunity, and stilled when she thought she found one. Swinging back, she lightly hit the golf ball and watched it cruise along, narrowly missing the hole but instead knocking Brittany’s ball out of the way. “Sorry, Britt,” Alice said with a laugh as she stepped away. It was entirely possible that Gus smugly grinned at Alice’s achievement, noting the new path of BB’s formerly well-placed shot.
"Ugh, I bet you are," BB replied, wrinkling her nose with a smile in Alice's direction. She led the three of them down the green alley, around the too short and yet oversized windmill, to where their balls rested in the astroturf, waiting to be dunked into the small holes. Her ball was now on the other side of the green, the shot longer than it would have been, had Alice not mussed the trajectory.
Mumbling to herself, BB used the putter to move her ball at least the putter's length away from the brick lip outlining the astroturf area and lined up her shot again. As she focused, she decided to mess with Gus a little.
"So, Gusgus," she started, not looking away from where she was tapping the ball in, "you gonna call Dad about every little thing that happens? Or are you gonna grow up, one of these days?"
Dark eyes widened with surprise at BB’s remark, Gus held his tongue for a few moments, processing the information. He followed the rolling ball’s movements meanwhile, listening for the resounding plunk as it landed in the hole for a decent scorecard mark. Once the ball arrived at its destination, he dared to look at his sister.
“I just kinda figured that odiesbay showing up outta nowhere was a problem Dad might be able to help with,” Gus said as evenly as possible. Although there was truly no need for pig Latin, it didn’t seem like a good idea to talk so openly about the messed up situation in public. That’s what his Dad had advised, at least--among other choice options, and not all of them involved pleasantries.
He strolled over to where his ball rested, and plunked it into the hole with a swing that could have been more satisfying if this was a game of regular golf. “Just trying to help,” he muttered not entirely to himself. Looking up from the green, he loosened his grip on the putter and smiled apologetically at Alice. “Anyway, it’s Alice’s turn now, and like. I don’t think she wants to talk about those things.” Moving out of the way so that Alice could take a swing at it, he casually brushed against her, paying BB little heed.
"Maybe you should let her speak for herself, Gusgus," BB retorted, holding her own ball and putter in each hand as her arms crossed over her chest. "Most women like it when you, yah know, let them have a voice." She glanced at Alice, brows raised, waiting for the other young woman to either take her turn or interject into the conversation.
“We don’t have to talk about the apartment stuff if it’s making Gus uncomfortable,” Alice replied to BB, her eyes pleading as she moved forward to take her swing. “Plus, this is a nice reprieve from it all and I’d be really sad if your dad made you both move out of there.” She swung back and hit the little ball, sending it rolling along until it plunked into the hole. She grinned and stepped back, looking first at Gus but then quickly correcting her gaze to look at BB.
Of course, Gus was an adult. He enjoyed acting like an adult, living like an adult. But sometimes it was absolutely necessary to roll his eyes at BB’s commentary, which he did. She was only sour because he’d talked to Dad, anyway, and would have to get over it sooner or later. Preferably sooner.
He nodded at Alice’s suggestion, privately flattered by her show of defense for his sake. Not that he needed help, but it was nice. For a moment, he appreciatively watched Alice swinging her putter, then turned his attention back to BB. “Yeah, let’s just enjoy the game. Like, I’d rather kick your ass at putt-putt than talk about everything else that’s happening.” Gus smiled as pleasantly as possible at his sister, although there might have been a hint of smarminess to it.
If only she could let things go; but, sadly, it simply wasn't in BB's nature. She certainly didn't want to talk about things like the floor changes and the spa and all of the other weirdness currently going on at Pax Letale. That was why they were here, minigolfing. But she could certainly rake her baby brother over the coals for daring to contact their parents because he was scared.
"I'm just saying," BB started, completely missing the way Gus's gaze met Alice's backside because her eyes were there too, before looking back at her brother, "are you gonna want your binkie back too? Or maybe that glow worm thing you had as a baby, that you always cried for because you constantly left it stuffed under the couch? What did you call it, again?" Her mouth opened in a slashing grin, eyes dancing as she brought up one of the many ways that Gus had always remained younger in the eyes of his older siblings.
“No,” he said quickly, but not quickly enough to hide the the faint, embarrassing flush which crept across his cheeks. “I’m just a concerned tenant.” A concerned tenant who had been spending his summer loading cars with groceries, enjoying friendly outings with his sister’s best friend, and trying his best to ignore a steady routine of oddly remorseful dreams. “And its name, F.Y.I., I don’t like...remember. At all. But you probably hid it from me on purpose.” Gus was a terrible liar, but he was pretty good at enjoying the height difference he had on his older sister. Sometimes it proved advantageous, like now. He peered down at BB, poking at the ground near her with the end of his putter.
“It’s like. Fine now, though. Because I ate your cocoa puffs on purpose, too.” He shrugged, as if this somehow made them even in the end.
The growing red across her brother's face was reward enough, but now having had a taste of Gus' embarrassment, BB could not stop if she wanted to. And she didn't. She pressed a finger to her lips in thought, before remembrance lit it like a turned on lamp.
"Oh I remember now! Mr. Gewey!" Her grin widened, as though that were at all possible. "Because you couldn't say 'glow' and we always thought you were trying to say gooey... Like when you couldn't say fingers and called 'em teeners. I'll call Mom, I'm sure she has Mr. Gewey stored away somewhere.... That'll help you sleep at night, huh?" BB took up her spot at the next hole, this one a semi-elaborate maze that required the putter to hit their ball off of several angles to reach the hole. Pushing her ball into position with her foot, she lined up her putter and began to concentrate.
“Britt, leave him alone,” Alice murmured, flashing a smile at her friend to show she wasn’t mad. “We all had best friend toys when we were little and messed up on words. And I think it’s alright if Gus is scared by everything.” She glanced at Gus and smiled fully at him before returning her attention to BB as she took a position next to Gus on the edge of the next green. “It is scary. All of it is and I mean… I don’t want you guys to move out but if your parents can help cover your move out fees, then it may be worth the move.”
Cheeks reddening further, Gus bit his tongue, trying to ease away his embarrassment. Did BB really need to do this around Alice, of all people? But it wasn't like he'd told his sister about...well, about whatever it was that might have existed between him and Alice. It didn't seem like a good idea, for reasons he hadn't yet figured out, but might have if he could manage to look beyond his own infatuation.
Besides, even if BB knew--and she totally didn't--that would only further encourage her teasing.
Thankfully, Alice seemed to yet again operate as a sort of buffer between the two Bernard siblings, and Gus felt a twinge of relief. He returned her smile, his gaze lingering longer than necessary when Alice looked back at BB. Overly aware of how close Alice stood near him, he glanced down for a moment while she spoke. The notion of suddenly moving away seemed to startle Gus, causing him to accidentally bump his putter against Alice's, his hand brushing against hers.
“Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to do that,” he quickly apologized. Swallowing hard, he attempted to think about Alice's suggestion instead of the warmth of her skin. “Moving out isn't a bad idea. But, you know, maybe things will...get better. I mean. Pax is in a good location. And it's kinda cool, you know, all three of us living in the same building.” Smooth. Real smooth. Like one happy family.
“Yeah, it’s nice to have you both so close,” Alice said with a smile, she bumped Gus’s putter with her own. “It’s okay,” she whispered before looking at BB again. “Anyway, just let me know if your dad really gets on your case and wants you both to move out. I think I could move, I’d just have to save money over the next few months to build up the amount I need for breaking the lease. But I’ll stay if you guys stay. It’s not like anyone’s died or anything, it’s just… magic.”
That one little phrase -- it's not like anyone's died -- made BB's hackles rise. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"Uh, hello, someone did die? In Rafe's apartment? Or does that not count because we didn't know them?" She'd been following the sparse news released around the event with a curious eye, her gossip obsession pushing her to do so. The second after she'd spoken, though, she took a step forward, putting a hand to Alice's shoulder as she tried to provide some cushioning for her harsh words. "That's not what I meant, just, like, this kind of thing happens, I mean, it's Los Angeles, but that doesn't mean we should stick our heads in the sand, skittles..."
Alice pressed her lips together and looked at the ground. “I know that someone died. I mean, I meant that it doesn’t appear someone died because of the weird stuff in the apartment… the god stuff or whatever. The guy who died in Rafe’s apartment was a suicide… or maybe a murder, I don’t know. But it doesn’t sound like the walls reached out and hurt the guy. Or gods showed up. Any of that. I mean…”
She glanced at BB then Gus. “Have these dreams hurt us at all? Have we been hurt? I’m asking honestly. BB, I know the tentacle arm tried to hurt you until you could control it but… Gus, are you okay?” She looked up at him, eyes pleading, wanting some certainty that they weren’t in constant danger.
It was a good thing a family with a horde of small children wasn’t waiting in line behind them at the following hole, or this could have gone so much worse. Things were already bad enough, Gus figured, watching BB with the usual mixture of shock at her audacity, and slight annoyance at her timing. Personally, he figured that calling their Dad was a step towards not digging into the sand and hiding, but there was no point in arguing the point further--Alice clearly was becoming upset.
And that was not okay.
“Yeah, yeah of course I am,” he was quick to reassure Alice, shooting a pointed look at BB. “I haven’t seen any gods, and like. I think I would know if I saw one.” If they even exist, Gus wanted to add, despite slowly, and stubbornly, starting to believe otherwise. “And I’d deal with any god that was trying to hurt you. Or my sister,” he added quickly, frowning at the thought. “I can handle a few weird dreams about monster wolves and creepsters. It’s not the end of the world, it just feels like it.”
Unconsciously, he moved closer to Alice, seeking to comfort her. But the time and place proved problematic, and when his hand rose to touch her back, it remained there for only a moment before falling again to his side. He shuffled uncomfortably, sighing in frustration. “Besides, I’ve seen BB attack sushi rolls before. Tentacles won’t beat her.”
BB thought little of Gus' closer proximity; she took it simply as the two of them trying to undo her error, which was only right of her brother to assist in. She rolled her eyes at his last comment, though she couldn't quite stifle the smile that appeared with it.
"Jaysus, may it not happen again," she replied, still running a hand up and down Alice's arm. She glanced back at where her ball lay, then to Alice. "Do you wanna go? This one's not that hard, you just have to right angle it off of the left hand side, you know, aim for the hole -- or we could make Gus go first, let him be a guinea pig," she offered, a smirk sliding over one side of her mouth as she looked at her brother.
“Sure,” Alice replied, finally breaking into a smile. She stepped forward, her back to the Bernard siblings. With a small wiggle of her hips, she swung the putter and sent her golf ball rolling toward the hole. It stopped just before it, all she’d have to do is one more hit which wasn’t too bad. She looked over her shoulder at her friends with a large grin, “We should bet that the loser pays for ice cream after.”
The miniature crisis breaking out on the green ended, and none too soon. Gus seriously doubted it was smart on either of their parts to discuss certain matters in public like this. Not like anyone was spying on them, but hadn’t Dad stressed the matter of discretion?
Well, whatever. For now, at least.
“Both of you will be buying me ice cream,” Gus declared in opposition to the playful taunts being offered, glad that the mood between the three of them had changed. He tested his putter, hitting an imaginary ball as he waited for Alice to finish her turn and allow BB a swing. With ice cream in the future, and preferably Alice shimmying a few more times within the direct line of his vision, the day didn’t seem quite so bad.