[Broken Reality - Canon - T]
Warnings: This a story that is about a person with multiple personalities and how they[he/they/she] all fell for the same guy. This has been mostly scrapped so I don't feel bad sharing the first chapter with you all now. I hope you enjoy this, the story is unbetaed which means it will have spelling and grammar mistakes like all of my pieces I've put up. I believe in putting things in their purest form.
Disclaimer: Frozen Acid is based on a Role Play. But more so loosely than what has actually been played. As such not all the characters belong to me and I hope they don't come a crossed as unnatural. At this point in time I will just say some of the characters belong to Ray, with that said I kind of want to see if anyone can tell which characters are definitely mine and which ones aren't... And, although I've read bits and pieces out loud to people before I haven't ever shared this much of the story before. So somethings may seem familiar to some people.
Author's Note: I believe in soul mates and you will notice they will be a common theme in things I write. I also like sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural. So, be prepared. And enjoy...!
Frozen Acid
Chapter
One:
Sheer Cold
There were three things he
knew for sure and these were three things he lived by as if they were
law. One is that Pristine Green was his only mother and therefore he
should strive to make sure he doesn't make her cry, unfortunately
this feat is a hard task given her sensitivity to the world around
her. So he usually found himself cradling a sobbing mass of red
braided hair and green eyed, plumpish mother. Her usually well
trimmed and pink polished nails digging into his arms as his father
would close his deep red eyes and shake his ink colored covered head
at him. As well as his raven head two year younger sister would roll
her red eyes and snort, she never helped anyways and was just as easy
to topple their mother as he was.
Second is that his
friends, well, the people he calls his friends, were extremely pushy.
He's the quiet and shy type, not really getting bent out of shape
over anything. Yet he still found his friends demands and prods to be
more than a little annoying. Then again he was often told he looked
like the type to have a temper on him.
Which brings us to the
third important subject. He never gets mad, well, he gets annoyed and
squirmish, but never angry. Yes, he's glared at people for touching
him and even snapped at a girl for trying to hug him. He's been upset
at his mother for making him go out when he would honestly prefer to
stay indoors with only himself and his note book for comfort. Of
course he got frustrated whenever some dumb shit would treat their
ride like scrap metal rather than the fine tuned and purring lady it
was.
But honestly?
Ross Green never got
angry.
And these three things
ruled his life.
Appease his mother, get
dragged around his friends, roll his eyes at assholes who probably
deserved a fist to the mouth. He studied up on cars and their parts
and fixed up a few of the neighbors cars to get a little cash to buy
a rusty, run down, coughing, yet charming fixer upper. He promised to
name her later. When he was done giving her some seriously needed
TLC. His sister teased him and picked on him a lot.
That was the life of Ross
Green.
Well,.
That was one of his lives.
You see Ross isn't just
Ross. He's two other people as well, both of them making him whole in
their own sense. And, unlike most people with multiple personalities,
Ross feels these two are his siblings. Extremely close and always
inside your personal life siblings, but siblings none the less.
First is the bad ass, red
haired, beauty queen. She knew how to turn even the most drabbest,
rainiest day ever into something beautiful and magical. She's the one
that's witty, playful, and loves to shop til she drops. On top of
which she's the only part of Ross that bothered with a bit of self
defense lessons, so she also keeps bullies away from her and her
brother alike while practically always having perfectly painted
nails. This girl is on fire, the polar opposite to her anti-social
male counterpart. And she loves every second of being her. A rose in
her beauty and her danger. Respectively, as the name suggests, she
can have deadly and sometimes poisonous thorns, but when she doesn't
she's just silky petals. That's the reason she says her name is Rose.
But then again their was
also the part of both of their lives that liked a little danger, that
gets a thrill from power and control. This one has both a need for
speed and sensibility like no other. With a quiet although strong
energy draws people in they are someone whom takes a lot of
responsibility on their shoulders and tries their best to keep even
strangers happy. Their name is Riley.
And before you ask, this
isn't an act, Ross really is three separate people. But this is why
he says he never gets angry, because Rose does it for him usually...
Or Riley if you really push their buttons. Although he does know what
the emotion should feel like, he just isn't usually one to get mad.
And, speaking about not
getting mad, he's rather annoyed at the current time being. His
mother wants him to meet an old family friend. Something that drives
him up a wall, despite the fact Riley and Rose both said they would
do it for him, he knows he has to do it because he promised his
mother.
But.
Ross hates meeting new
people, honestly Ross hates most people. He finds them hard to grasp
and rather acidic to be around. Just being around people made him
itchy, having them look at him made his skin feel like hot coals were
pressed to it. But when they touched him he would try to keep the
reaction to just flinching, but more often times than not he ends up
shoving the person away with a hurtful remark.
Of course his mother he's
used to touching and being touched by, she loves to hug, cuddle, and
coddle her children. His father was a lot like him, not very touchy
feely, while his sister just didn't seem to care one way or another.
Speaking of his sister, she's laying a crossed the couch, her white
tights covered feet resting on Ross' lap. Said male is sighing to
himself, staring up at the ceiling with a slightly annoyed
expression, his lips pressed together in a thin line.
Now. The brother has a
perfect reason for being more than just bored or nervous due to his
mother's forced meeting about to happen. But its for something his
sister can't seem to get through her head.
If he's told Sofia once,
he's told her gazillion times. He doesn't want her stinking,
twitching feet anywhere on him. But its not like he's going to get
into another heated debate with his sister, he could hardly call what
they do arguing, nor does he have the courage to face her wrath if he
simply pushed her off of him. Well, at least at the moment. So he
just deals with it as his mother hums and dances around the bland
living room with her duster. Their father went to pickup the guest
around twenty minutes ago, around that time his sister had stolen the
remote from his fingers and flipped to some “teenie bopper” show.
After several minutes of
the mind numbing supposed entertainment, Ross has to ask, “Seriously?
What is so appealing about a bunch of bitchy girls doing bitchy
things?” His sister sighs at him, turning an almost angry
expression at him.
“Look. Its my turn to
have the tv today. You had it yesterday and all you did was play
those stupid, flashy brain melting things you call games,” She
sticks her tongue out in disgust. “At least I'm watching something
that could be considered educational!”
For a moment Ross looked a
bit more than annoyed before his expression melts away and, in a calm
and gentle voice, he says, “Don't be upset Sofia. And that was me,
not Ross.” To which Sofia humphs.
“Whatever, Riley... You
could've let the whiny baby bitch if you wanted.”
The now Riley gives the
barest of smiles and pats their sister's legs. “And you could
remember to keep your feet to yourself. But we both know neither will
happen, will they, Sofia?”
Sofia rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah... Ri?”
“Yes, Sofia?”
She clicks her tongue in
annoyance, “A. You seriously can call me Sof or something, you're
my big brother too-”
“I am not a boy.”
“-and B? Don't go
getting in the way of him getting hurt. You and Rose do it way too
much. Now. Let me yell at Ross...!”
Riley give gives a tiny,
nonchalant laugh. “Alright. But...Please, don't yell. It doesn't
just hurt his feelings you know...”
Sofia huffs.
“Whatever...”
Time passes slowly as the
two annoyed siblings sit together with the tv going as the only
sound. Sofia, having given up at on yelling at her brother, pulls her
feet in closer to herself for a few minutes before stretching out
again. “Don't complain,” She mumbles when Ross gives her another
annoyed look. “If you don't like it, move.”
“I was here first,”
The red head huffs as a doorbell sounds, a bright chiming sound
echoing through the two story house. A happy shriek is heard with in
seconds of the chimes.
“He's here~! He's
heerrreeee~!” Pristine Green's, the bubbly mother's, voice bounces
off of walls as she sets her cook book down in a hurry. She doesn't
even bother to put in a book mark when she does. The mother
practically zipped to the door a moment or so later. Taking that as a
cue to get up the red haired, red eyed male pushes and deposits his
sister's lower half onto the floor before hoping onto his feet. As he
nimbly gets up Sofia gives a small, although loud and annoyed,
shriek. Ross, deciding its safer to avoid his irate sister, dashes
out into the hall way and takes the speedy seven steps to the kitchen
entrance from the main hallway. This is a good few feet from where
his mother is cooing and coddling their guest.
A guest whom Ross is
uncertain is even a friend of his mother's. This supposed friend
isn't anywhere as old as Ross had wanted to peg him. Actually they're
quite young, probably his age even, and this stranger's is head
covered by beautiful dark blue locks. The red head frowns to himself
as his mother waves him over, “Come on, Ross baby, meet Nebula.”
Being ushered forward and his angry sister radar bleeping in his head
he moves up next to his short mother. Although, even though he is
male, Ross Green isn't that tall himself. Stopping next to her he
holds out his hand as his mother practically chirps from excitement.
“Nebula, this is my eldest son, Ross” which is the usual signal
for him to formally greet someone. The two shake hands, the red
haired boy admittedly wincing before frowning deeply.
Something felt off. And
not in the he's creepy kind of way, but in the “I don't like you
and that pisses me off” kind of way. Then again, the red head cares
for very few people. And those that he does are only a select few and
even those he's not fully certain of.
But then the blue haired
one speaks. Its smooth like glass and just as cold sounding. His
voice makes Ross' heart leap into his throat, thudding in a painful
way as he stares at the other for a shot moment.
“I am Nebula. It is a
pleasure to meet you, Ross.”
Ross flinches as the voice
that speaks finishes with an air of chilliness making goosebumps form
as if the other's voice could physically cool the air around him.
This causes him to feel cold and making him shiver slightly. Slowly,
after a short and self berating pause, he lifts his deep red eyes to
examine the male before him as his fists clench tightly, his filed
nails dig into the somewhat soft flesh of his palms. With traveling
eyes he guides his gaze up slowly. He stops at the male's lips. The
neutral line found there actually stops him short a moment, did this
boy of fourteen maybe fifteen not want to be here? A few seconds pass
before his gaze travels higher.
His stomach drops.
Then begins to twist into
knots.
His breathing catches in a
half formed gasp.
Its as if every vein in
his body is rapidly freezing as he stares he internally swears. He's
not breathing, his lungs slowly expelling air as his brain fumbles
around trying to figure out what is going on. Yeah. He's had to deal
with people feeling either too cold or too hot before, but this is
beyond any of the normal amounts. Its almost like he's being
enchanted by the other's eyes. And he can't look away. Cold, empty,
and lifeless they stare into his own widening and confused ones. A
deep blue that cuts to his soul and turns it into ice, his normally
bright red gaze frosting over for a moment as he takes the other in
fully. Those piercing eyes being apart of the dead to the world
expression the blue haired male wears with out missing a beat. Ross
can feel his heart threatening to chock him from its thundering in
his throat. Everything, even his now shuddering lungs, seem to have
been attacked by the sudden intrusion of cold. Then, as if a match
was lit, flames burn into his side as his sister jabs him. Hard.
“Stop staring, freak.” And he was shoved out of the line of
vision of the other male. The cold rushing away just as fast as it
came.
His sister speaking as he
grapples with what just happened. Two other voices in his head
chiming in with their own worries. Then a voice that is much closer
to neutral in the matter of hot and cold speaks. “Nebula, this is
Sofia...” His mother's voice making him focus on himself once more.
He finds himself breathing, although shakily.
After a moment another
warm presence comes into play along with his sister's burning one.
This one is calm and, looking to the side, Ross see's his father whom
Sofia is a female version of. Quincy Green's red eyes glitter with
happiness a moment before he welcome's Nebula into the house. And
that's that. Ross is done. This just seems so... so...
He couldn't put his finger
on it. But those eyes, that voice, and how he felt. It just seemed so
wrong. Yet... His family seems to disagree.
He exhales slowly, closing
his red eyes against his family kindly letting in someone so...
chilling... Shivers run down Ross' spine as he excuses himself to his
bedroom “I'm feeling a little dizzy. I'm going to lie down a
moment.”
His mother had frowned,
but allowed it, and his sister only snorted at him and mumbled
“freak” under her breath. So he heads to the stairs, takes them
two at a time. Then he pokes his head into the bathroom to take a
moment to examine himself in the mirror. He looks a little pale and
his eyes are huge with fear. No wonder his mother was worried.
Sighing he turns on the faucet with a small squeak of the handle.
Cold, soft water trickles down onto his finger tips when he tests it
after a few moments. He then gather's water in his hands and splashes
his face.
Rubbing his hands over his
eyes and forehead before using his damp hands to push red bangs from
his face he sighs, “Get a grip man.” His voice shakes a slightly
and, for a moment, he felt truly scared. Meeting new people was
always hard for him. Looking into the mirror he sees a weakly smiling
female looking at him and he can feel the hand of a passive and
familiar red head on his shoulder. One good thing about having alone
time. He was never truly alone.
After a short bit he exits
the bathroom and crosses the hallway. Getting to his simple and plain
room he crosses to and flops down on his twin sized bed before
placing a hand under his head. For a few minutes he stares at the
ceiling, the feeling of someone watching him makes his skin crawl.
But he knows its only in his head that its happening. Its not like
the guy followed after him when he left. His eyes slowly close and he
finds himself panicking so he opens them just enough to see the image
of those blue, cold, dead eyes flickering in his mind. His heart
clenches as his body drops in temperature.
It bugs him.
It bugs him a lot.
-_-_-_-_-
A few days later and Ross
is beginning to think his mind is trying to play tricks on him,
whenever he closes his eyes he sees cold blues and has to force the
image away or face the possibility of freezing to death. Its been a
long few day. A few days of him trying to hide in his room and
failing at his mother's insistance. Its been a few days of unwanted
presences and near touches. Putting it short. Its been a hellish few
days of his mother trying to push him and Nebula together. A few
days of Ross trying to avoid it and succeeding only once. And, to
make matters worse for him, every time Ross seems to grumpily give in
Nebula tells him to “not worry about it, he can entertain himself”.
If that was all his mother was worried about he wouldn't have ended
up having to cancel on his friends yesterday in order to keep that
uncomfortable interaction from happening, but its only a matter of
time before Jerome or one of the others comes looking for him.
He sighs, “Please give
me a moment a peace mom.” He whispers to himself as a calming
feeling washes over him. For a moment Riley tried to take over, but
he wasn't ready to give up on a quiet day yet. Its not like his
mother has tried to get him to do anything yet.
“Rooooosssssss
baaaabbbbyyyyy~.”
'Speak of the devil and
she shall appear.'
'Be nice, Ross... Its
not gonna kill you to do something for someone else for a change,'
Rose practically sneers in their share conscious. 'Besides.
She'll find you lazying around and make you do something anyways.'
'Ugh. Shut up, Rose!'
His mother pops into his
line of vision with that pleading look in her eyes. Ross can already
feel himself tensing. Part of him hoping its just because she wants
help with volley ball practice or something else silly like that. But
then she speaks... And its not in anyway he has come to know as
pleasant.
“Ross, darling?” His
mother's chirpy voice calls to him in the form of a question and
wafting over to him from the kitchen as the boy is lazing on the
couch. The boy is idly channel flipping when the woman's footsteps
reaches his ears from the dinning room she's crossed through. As such
he barely raises his head to see his mother leaning against the
doorway that connects the living room to the kitchen. She has a
thoughtful look now in her dark violet colored eyes. She fixes them
onto Ross after a moment, “Baby? Can you do something for me?”
The boy is sits up and
nods, “Yeah, sure mom. What cha need?” He gives her a small
smiles, always wanting to help when he's able to.
The mother sighs and runs
fingers through her faded and beginning to gray red locks, her lower
lip being chewed on for minute. Then she nods, “I need you to
promise me something.” The way she says that makes him pause.
Oh boy.
This could be really bad.
This could mean exactly
what he's avoiding.
Despite his easy acting
nature he typically gives towards his mother, the red haired and red
eyed boy mentally gulps. She only makes him promise when she knows
he'll hate what she's asking for. And not the simple 'no way, no how'
kind of hates, but the 'oh for crying out loud, why Mom?!' kind of
hate. Now, the question in the air is “what does she have planned
this time?”. The last couple of times had been conning him into
family outings that turned into family plus ten. This extra cluster
of people usually ending up his responsibility since they're his age.
He really hopes that he won't have to babysit anyone again.
Especially if its the cold one again.
Ross tilts his head to the
side which makes his bangs brush over his eyes and irritate them
slightly as he waits, immense curiosity zinging through his veins
like an electric current. Even his eyes dilate a little in
anticipation and, probably more intensely so, fear of the
possibilities awaiting him.
Pristine gives big, doe
eyes and puckers out her lower lip slightly. If it wasn't directed at
her son, but, lets say, her husband... It would be working quite well
in this battle, but as is... Ross looks away until she speaks to
avoid the image of his mother looking so pitiful,“Promise you'll do
it first? Please?Pretty please? Pretty, pretty pleeaase?”
Oh crap. The double pretty
please. He should be aborting right now... But those eyes...! How can
he say no to those eyes?!
This could only spell
disaster for him. And not the small, simple kind, but the ugly
oh-my-god-why-did-I-do-this kind. So he gives a slight and very light
smile to his mother. He knows he can't back out, not after what he
told her earlier. Of course that doesn't mean he'll like it...
“Yeah, sure, I promise.
Just tell me and I'll do it, alright?”
“Oh thank goodness,”
She exhales with a hand over her heart looking seriously relieved.
Even her hair looks smoother from the relief. “I'm so glad you
did... You see, Nebula needs someone in his life, a friend. I want
you to hang out with him, get him to know people... Ya know,
basically become his best friend. Okay? Thanks.”
Ross was floored. He
literally felt his heart drop and disgust making his mouth suddenly
taste acidic. This was not okay, not even for his trying to be caring
mother.
He can't fathom how she
can just state, so calmly too, the one thing she knows he will hate.
With a sigh he shakes his head, his bangs falling into his eyes. He
had called it. He had known it. But. Even though he knew it was going
to be bad, but this bad? No. No way. He can't, just can't... that
guy... Is so... cold its... creepy... and Ross...
Just. No.
He is not going to be
conned into pretending to be someone's friend!
No way.
No how.
Its just not happening!
“Wait- No... Mom,” He
felt almost panicked as he pictured those cold eyes again, the same
ones that have been seen in various places around his house since mom
kept inviting the guy over. “I don't think that's a good ide-”
The aged woman pouts, the
expression making her seem very childish as tears began to well up in
her eyes. She lowers her head and sniffles, “But... You promised
me... And he's all alone, it hurts to see such a sweet boy all
alone... Please, Ross, baby... Help him? Please?” The red haired
boy's teeth grit and he lets out an almost annoyed growl before
relaxing.
Okay, maybe its happening.
He nods despite his wishes
to do otherwise.
“Fine.”
One word. Short and almost
cutting to him. This is seriously not okay.
And he definitely isn't
happy about it. His mother is being mean to the both of them and he
can hardly stand Nebula to begin with. If anything this cold eyed boy
is beginning to not just make him feel uncomfortable, but he's really
annoying as well. Ross closes his eyes against the image of the male,
shoving it away to where it belongs... in his nightmares like all the
other things that he can't handle belong... His mother hugs him tight
and places a searing kiss to his cheek. He almost tosses her away
from him. But that would be mean, plus he's still on the couch
therefore if he shoved her away she would take him with her. And he
doesn't feel like falling into his mother's chest while trapping her
to the floor with his body. Nope, he's past that childish stage of
him life. Plus, when he thinks about it, it sounds really -like
extremely really- wrong. He sighs lightly when his mother lets go
with a wink and skips off.
“Peachy, just peachy...
I get to hang with the living tundra... just... peaches and pears...”
Flipping off the TV the
boy goes to get into his street clothes. Reaching his door he pauses
just outside it, wondering just why he's even thinking of changing.
His ripped jeans, day old shirt, and slept on hair should be fine
enough. All he should do is brush his hair and tie it back, so why...
He shakes the thought off. Probably just a bit of Rose leaking
through. Sighing he grabs the knob, turns and walk into his simple
room and walks to the closet. He shuffles through the various clothes
there. Finally he lands on a pair of accenting and dark blue jeans, a
clean and dark green tank before changing with out much thought.
Shaking his head he pulls out a pair of black socks, dark gray shoes
and sets out Rose's make up kit just in case. He pulls on the socks
before unlacing the shoes with half the thought needed and tie them
up in perfect bunny ear knots. He frowns at himself when he looks to
the mirror from his seat on his small bed. His hair really does look
like a royal mess of ruby colored frizz.
Hopping to his feet he
grabs his brush and begins the patient combing of his hair as he
opens up his sock drawer once more, pulling out Rose's hair products
and her jewelry box. He then plugs in the flat iron and lets that
heat up on top of his dresser as he finishes brushing his hair.
Starring at his reflection again he frowns at the face starring back
at him, somewhat lacking in attractiveness to him. So he opens up her
make up bag and pulls out light green eyeliner that practically fades
into his skin, but sticks out enough the make his eyes pop below his
hair. With that applied he smiles and checks the iron with a slight
poke, hissing he nods and picks up it up. Grabbing the brush once
more he irons out his hair so its flat, smooth... lifeless...
Like those soul
crushingly, shockingly, bright blue eyes.
'Dammit!'
He was trying so hard to
not think about them. Just. Dammit all!
Yanking the cord out with
a light growl he tosses the iron away. It lands uselessly on floor
with a clatter and he glares at his reflection, eyes glinting and
hazy all at once. There has got to be something that doesn't remind
him of that blue haired, blue eyed ice cold jerk!
Pressing his lips in a
thin line he then proceeds to fill a backpack with stuff to do to
ignore the person he's meant to be escorting around. With said bag
full of various items he then heads for the front door before
stopping and frowning, “Hey mom!” His voice bounces down the hall
towards the stairs.
“Yes, honey?” Her
voice comes from his right, the kitchen's acoustics making her sound
louder than normal. One eyebrow of his twitches at the cheeriness in
her voice. But he calls back to her none the less.
Lowering his voice he
asks,“Where am I supposed to pick him up at?” There is a silence
before he hears footsteps, light and almost soundless. Ross' heart
jumps as he looks back, fear and annoyance lapping at his veins as he
sees the boy he's meant to be taking around walk up. “How long have
been- Know what, I even don't care anymore. Lets just, I dunno, go
already...” And, as he opens the door, he's met with a face full of
a white haired and amber eyed male with a huge grin plaster onto his
face. Amber eyes spark with playfulness and he holds up a round
orange ball in hands.
“Ready for some b-ball,
Rossie-Ross?”
“Its Ross, just Ross,”
He grumbles under his breath as the other looks around him with
interest. “And what the hell? No. I suck at basketball.” The red
head sighs dramatically as his long time neighbor, first friend, and
current best friend continues to examine the male behind him.
Honestly Ross wished that the hovering ice block behind him would
just leave. But. He promised his mother. He gives another, more airy,
sigh.
“Hey, who's this?” For
a moment the playful glint becomes mock saddness. “Ya didn't double
book did ya? Replace me for a newer, better, and shinier model?”
The hurt look is fake so Ross can't help but give a loud snort or
annoyance and rolls his eyes before ushering the dark skinned male
back, almost shutting the door in the blue haired male's face. But he
restrains himself as he hisses into his friend's ear.
“What? Are you high?”
Ross spits out with almost disgust. “Nebula? The Ice Bitch? Please,
don't insult me.”
“Whoa. Ross. That's a
bit cruel even for you, don't you think?” The male gives a serious
frown before patting Ross on the back. “Try not to be such a stick
in the mud.”
“I'm not!”
And then the boy turns his
gaze onto Nebula with a slightly toothy grin. “I'm Jerome. Nice to
meet you. You don't mind if I tag along with you guys, right?” The
blue haired boy shakes his head.
“No.”
This causes Jerome to grin
big, his whole face lighting up as he does, “Great. C'mon then,
Ross! Letsa go~!”
“Yeah, yeah, weirdo.
Lets go... Mom! I'll be back later!” He calls as the white haired
boy, Jerome, pushes him along. “Alright, alright, jeez, I'm moving!
Besides... The farther ahead we get, the more I can explain about my
new, um, babysitting job.” Of course as he moves himself and his
friend along Nebula follows behind at a slightly lagging pace. The
two friends aren't in a conversation, its more like the red haired
male is simply ranting away his current vexations.
“He's so cold, and
silent, and creepy, and... and... a bitch. Honestly!” He huffs
defiantly. “And I can't believe mom wants me to become friends,
like real friends, with him. I mean. How crazy can you get?”
“He seems nice to me.
Why not give him a chance?” Jerome says before looking back at
Nebula with a thoughtful expression. “I mean. What do you even know
about the guy? Minus what you say about everyone and everything,
Ross.”
The red head gives a dirty
look before deadpanning, “I don't like him. He's just... cold. Too
cold.” Then sighs while rubbing the bridge of his nose. “And.
Another thing... His name is Nebula, or so he claims... Who the hell
names their baby Nebula? Especially a guy!”
“I admit... Nebula is a
bit weird, but its strange to see you so worked up about this guy...”
Jermone chuckles lightly as he ruffles Ross's hair. “But. To get
you worked up like this...? He must really get under your skin.”
“Oh shut up, Jerome!”
Jerome just ruffles his
hair once more with a slight laugh, “You really are something, ya
know that.” They walk on for a few moments before amber eyes light
up. “Oh, right. Zeus, Alyss, and Adele will be playing too...
Hmm... We should ask Nebula to play as well.”
“Hell no. Leave Tundra
outta this.”
“Damn man. You don't
even like basket ball,” Jerome gives a small laugh before stopping
and raising a brow. “And, Tundra? How many icy nicknames for this
guy do you have?”
Ross freezes and flushes
lightly, “Ack! Slip of the tongue, its, uh... Its the name I use
for him when mom's around. Not that its entirely nice nor is she
pleased with it, but, uh... Two. I only have two.”
“So... You're calling
him Tundra instead?”
“So what!!”
“So nothing,” Jermone
smiles again with a playfully knowing look. “Its kinda sweet is
all.”
“swa-SWEET?!” Ross
sputters and turns around to glare at his friend, still walking all
the while. “Its not sweet asshat!” As he goes to take a step
back, blue eyes widen a fraction behind the white haired boy and the
silent once speaks in a calm, yet worried tone. Its just a simple
warning in the form of one word:
“Car.”
Of course Jerome doesn't
know what this means so he stops with a slightly confused look while
trying to spot said vehicle. Ross meanwhile snorts and continues
onward, “There are no cars coming, Nebula. Stop it--.” As he just
manages to finish his sentence Ross is yanked back by Jerome as a car
comes zipping around the corner, almost beaming him. The boy gives a
yelp and stares wide eyed. “Th... that was just a coincidence!”
Of course this would be the third or fourth one in less than a week,
but who is counting? Anyways the red head shakes his head.
“Could you, I don't
know, not predict cars or something? Its really annoying!” These
are the first almost civil words he has spoken to Nebula in a long
while. Blue eyes shine with confusion a moment before the boy nods.
“Alright...”
-_-_-_-
“Ooooh~ Jer-bear~
Oooover heerrreee~!!!!!”
A small, Asian looking
girl with brown hair and eyes is jumping up and down in a fenced in
parking lot with a hoop at either end. Her grin is huge, but not as
big as her super sized bag of pretzels in her hot little fingers. She
bounces a bit more before turning to a white haired and much taller
male next to her, she hugs onto his side. This pair is the Amilicare
twins Alys and Zeus. Alys hums and adds, “Oh. And hiiiiiiii
Rossie-Rosie-Ri~!”
Ross sighs and gives a
half wave, just glad that no one has asked about Nebula yet.
“Who's he?” He just
had to be relieved didn't he? Another red head was the one who asked,
this one is built up more than Ross' run of mill bully target build,
but not in the super huge way, in the lean way. His gray eyes are
sharp even if his voice sounds much more gentle than the rest of him.
“He playin' too?” This last person would be Adel. He likes to
fight and through fighting he learns much about a person.
The first red head is
smart enough to know his mother would kill him if Nebula came back
bruised or worse, so he speaks before the blue haired one can,
“Nebula. And, no, the Tundra will NOT be playing.”
“Ross. Chill,” Jerome
chides with a light whack to his friend's head. The boy whines softly
as the other turns to the male in question. “You wanna play?”
Nebula studies each of
them a moment before nodding, “Yes.” And with that he's now a
part of their game. With this said that means each team will now have
three members. Zeus, Alys, and Adel would be one team while while
Nebula, Jerome, and Ross would be the other. Thus Team “Iceberg”
and Team “Super Strikers Force Team Go!” were created.
“Wait a minute!” Ross
grumbles. “Why is he on my team?!” He points to Nebula. “This
seems cruelly unbalanced.” For a moment he seems to be fuming
before Jerome gives him a firm pat on the back.
“Cool off, buddy,” He
shakes his head. “This way we're evenly matched. Blue-boy there
doesn't look like he plays sports much, you're afraid of the ball,
I'm a decent player. A balanced team. Besides Zeus and Alys are just
as bad as you two are... Which means its mainly me verses Adel.”
Ross snorts. “Now that's
unfair.”
“Hey!” Adel calls
over. “Its not like I cheat.”
“Everything about you is
a cheat code to life,” Ross mumbles under his breath but just
sighs. “Fine. Fine. Whatever. Guess its better than making him
guard me or something.” Jerome ruffles his hair.
“See. Its a good thing.”
And thus their game begins
with a grumpy although accepting Ross and a slightly confused Nebula.
Their match is seriously skewed even with all that balancing. Adel's
physical prowess over Jerome is evident in everything he is. But that
doesn't meant Jerome let the other win easy. In the end though team
Super Strikers Force Team Go! won hands down. And the next game, and
the game after that, and finally Team Iceberg almost won. But Ross
chickened out when it came to head on conflict with the other red
head especially not with Nebula within a touching range. With the
conclusion that Ross and Nebula are not allowed to be on a team again
the six ended up parting ways. The party of Ross and Nebula heading
home while the other four continue to hang together.
The silence is thick
between the two of them walking home. Exactly five inches is kept
between them at all times. That is until Nebula grabs a hold of Ross,
“I have to go.” And, with out an explanation, he left. Red brows
furrow.
“That was strange,”
Looking at the sky Ross sees that the sun is very low and sunset will
be happening soon. “He must have a curfew... Guess his parents are
strict. Neh. Whatever.”
As soon as he makes it
home his mother demands to know about his day. Seeing she's almost
done with dinner he sets the table for her as he tells her. Ross
doesn't see it, but Pristine notices her son is smiling as he talks.
And it warms her heart. Soon dinner is on the table and the rest of
the family, Sofia and, their father, Quincy walking in shortly.
The family sits to dinner.
Chitter chatter floating around then as Sofia talks about her day
spent with her friends Kathryn and Clariis. And Ross, despite the
cold in his bones, seems to be brighter today than he was yesterday.
Pristine looks to her
husband. He smiles his own rare smile to her. Tonight seems to be a
perfect night for them.
