“We a need of cup that.” Drew read the instructions, pointing towards a beaker full of white fine powder ”We then mix it with this.” handing Satoru a beaker full of white liquid. “Then add a few drops from this vial which will cause it to change colour.”
“Perfect.” exclaimed Satoru, watching the mixture in front of them turn a pale pink “I have pre-heated the oven to 450 for 20 minutes and then bake till golden brown.”
“What are you doing.” Reed walked in emptying a jar of colourful paint water.
“We’re baking a cake.”
“Okay, then.” The absentminded painter replied and walked back up the stairs. “Don’t burn the house down.”
“Will do.” Satoru smiled and Drew nodded. “Now mix them in.”
“Now add this to that.” Drew handed a bowl of white granules to Satoru, “which should cause it to become fluffy.”
“We then need 4 eggs.” Drew read from the open recipe book and Satoru cracked 4 eggs in and immediately hissing could be heard from the mixture.
“What did you do?” Drew asked aghast “I don’t know.” Satoru, cried out loud, “We followed all the instructions. He looked down at the bowl and then pointed to the instructions, “We went step by step, and we added the right quantities. Perhaps it’s supposed to that.”
Drew peered into the bowl which had slowly stopped hissing and took a sniff of the mixture. “Smells alright” he shrugged. “Let’s continue.” and Satoru nodded.
“Now we just needed to add this.” Satoru said adding in a pinch of white granules and then there was a loud bang as the mixture began to bubble and hiss. The bowl shattered and fell to the floor and melted as another loud bang occurred and rattled the windows in the kitchen.
Drew and Satoru looked at each other and then mess surrounding them, pink goop everywhere, which was proceeding to slowly melt the counter-top. They looked at each other, nodded and backed away slowly.
“What’s was that.” Boys asked streaming down into common room and towards the kitchen.
“Nothing. Nothing.” Drew said shutting the kitchen doors closed behind them.
“Oh, well then.” Most of the boys shrugged and went back to their work used to the daily explosion. Drew and Satoru were alive and well and Windsor was still standing which was all that mattered to them but the conspirators were not convinced.
“Something doesn’t smell right.” The conspirators grimaced together when a loud hissing sound went off in the kitchen.
“Did we switch off the oven?” Drew asked Satoru, who paled and shook his head no.
“Code Red everyone.” Blaine yelled and the Windsors looked at each other and ran towards the fire alarm as sounds of shattered glass could be heard.
“What have you guys done now?”
Everyone turned to look at their extremely angry prefect and ran away, vacating the slowly smoking area, joined by other students who had heard the fire alarm. Drew and Satoru tried to run away as well except Charlie caught them by their lab coats.
“We tried to bake a cake.” Drew explained. “For Mother’s day, for you.” Satoru nodded and then paled at Charlie’s frown. “Happy Mother’s day.” Drew exclaimed and trailed off when he saw that his prefect was most definitely not pleased.
“Chaz.” Blaine said approaching them slowly, “You should probably not touch the lab coats.” gesturing at the now smoking items of clothing. Drew and Satoru looked at each other in panic and immediately shrugged out them, right on time it seemed as the coats soon burst into flames.
They paled and looked each other again as the kitchen blew up, shaking the whole house and the windows in the common room rattled.
“Right then, everyone out?” and Blaine nodded. Drew and Satoru gulped at their glowering prefect who was still scowling at them “You better have a good explanation for Howard and Ramsey because there is no way I am explaining this.”
It wasn’t as though he would be against doing anything with Satoru, exactly - he just didn’t know where they stood with each other on the matter. They hadn’t talked about what had happened after the love potion incident, and whenever someone brought it up, one or both of them would divert the conversation immediately.
“…and then he just seemed so surprised when I told him we weren’t together!” Drew exclaimed to his roommate.
The two were finally reunited after the summer apart, regaling stories as they unpacked their belongings. Drew had heard all about Satoru’s time back in Japan with his family, and Drew was excited to finally be able to tell someone about his dad’s new boyfriend.
“Cooper Anderson, can you believe it?” Drew rolled his eyes as Satoru stared, shocked.
“Whoa, wait, like-”
“Yeah, like Blaine and Shane, they have an older brother apparently?”
“And he’s dating your dad?”
“And he’s dating my dad. Has been for a while, apparently – not that Blaine and Shane know?”
“Why don’t they know?”
“No clue, apparently they’re keeping it on the down low for a while. I only found out because, you know, I live there.”
“That’s insane, dude.”
“You’re telling me,” Drew shrugged, and picked up a box with an assortment of chemicals in it. He frowned. “Are we planning on doing anything today, or should I put these away until tomorrow?”
“Nah, put them away, we can just take it easy tonight,” Satoru said, collapsing back onto his bed having finally finished his own unpacking. “You wanna have a movie night?”
“Sure, what are you thinking?”
“Something we’ve seen before, please, I’m too exhausted to focus on anything new,” Satoru groaned, and rubbed his hands over his face. He pulled them away and turned his head to look at Drew. “Your dad really thought we were together?”
“Yeah, I don’t know where he got that from. He said back in his day, everyone was at the very least friends with benefits with their roommate. Or roommates, I suppose for some of them.”
Satoru shook his head.
“Why do people always assume we’re together? Lucy, the twins – hell, this whole house, now your dad… I even had Mika bothering me about it. All summer she was asking me if I was sure! Like yeah, I think I’d know if I was sleeping with my best friend.”
He laughed, and Drew grimaced to himself as he turned away to unpack his clothes.
It wasn’t as though he would be against doing anything with Satoru, exactly - he just didn’t know where they stood with each other on the matter. They hadn’t talked about what had happened after the love potion incident, and whenever someone brought it up, one or both of them would divert the conversation immediately.
Not to mention, he was confused by his own feelings. He wasn’t sure if what he felt towards the other boy was platonic or romantic, or if he just liked the occasional affection they gave each other; looking out for each other in their crazier experiments, brushing dust off each other’s faces after explosions, holding each other and hearing out the other’s troubles when they were upset by something –
…and movie nights. Movie nights were his favourite. When they’d grab their blankets and pillows, turn out all the lights save for their solar system projection lamp, and curl up against the wall that ran alongside Satoru’s bed. When they’d wake up just a little too close after they’d accidentally fallen asleep together.
Accidentally, Drew thought to himself as he closed the wardrobe door, leaning his forehead against it as he sighed.
“What’s up?”
Well, no time like the present. Drew turned around to look at Satoru, who had turned to lie on his stomach, legs kicked up in the air.
“Are we ever gonna talk about the love potion?”
Satoru blanched, legs coming to a still from their swinging. He sat himself up, placing his hands in his lap.
“What – what about it?” Satoru stammered out, his eyes looking down, face flushed.
Drew was almost surprised. He’d assumed it had just been him who’d been nervously avoiding the topic, and had almost thought Satoru would immediately brush his question off with a joke. He raked his brain to think of what to say in response.
“We kissed.” He eventually settled on, feeling his own face turning red as the words left his mouth.
“We did more than kiss,” Satoru mumbled in response, his eyes still not meeting Drew’s own. “I distinctly remember neither of us having shirts on.”
Drew glowered.
“We both know what happened that night, let’s not act like it was some drunken half-forgotten experience – or do we need to discuss those too?”
Satoru bit his lip, and Drew sighed again.
“Sorry. But – I think we do need to talk about it.”
“What’s there to talk about?” Satoru’s voice quivered, and he finally picked his gaze up to Drew’s.
Drew could see though the other boy’s glasses that tears were brimming in his eyes. He felt the mixture of guilt and anxiety rise within him.
“Well, everything,” Drew swallowed, and crossed the room to sit himself opposite Satoru on the bed, their knees nudging against each other. “Like the fact we never talked about it, for a start.”
“I didn’t think we had to,” Satoru’s voice was quiet. “You didn’t seem – I didn’t think we had to – it was so long ago now -”
“It was only January.”
“Eight months ago!” Satoru exclaimed, finally bringing his eyes to meet Drew’s, and Drew recoiled at his friend’s tone.
“Eight months,” He nodded in acknowledgement, and took Satoru’s hands in his own, “I didn’t think you – ah -” He looked away.
“I didn’t think you cared.” He finished. It was barely a whisper, and he closed his eyes as he spoke, not wanting Satoru to see his expression.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, feeling just the sweat of each-others’ palms; the only sounds echoing through the room being their breaths and the occasional yell filtering in from Reed or the twins, where ever they were in the house, until Satoru began rubbing his thumbs over the backs of Drew’s hands.
“Of course I cared,” Satoru muttered, eyes locked on their hands. “How couldn’t I?”
Drew looked up, and Satoru’s gaze slowly followed up to meet him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Drew’s voice came out, still quiet. He tried to pull his hands away to flick his hair from his eyes, but Satoru’s grip was firm, and Drew gulped when he realised the other boy was pulling him back.
“It means you’re my best friend, Drew,” Satoru’s eyes were still focused on his. “It means I care about you more than anyone else, and I have done since the first day we met.”
Drew looked back down at their connected hands.
“So - so you feel…” He trailed off, not even sure himself of what he was trying to ask.
“Yeah?” Satoru responded, and Drew figured that he hadn’t known the question either.
He sat himself up a little straighter and cleared his throat, their gaze locked once again. He took a deep breath in before he spoke.
“I don’t know what I want,” He admitted, and Satoru nodded, his mouth opening a little as he went to reply.
“But,” Drew cut him off before he had the chance. He swallowed. The two of them had taken a lot of risks over the years, with very little planning, and yet he’d never been more nervous about this one.
“I think I want you.”
He exhaled shakily, letting out the breath he’d been holding tight.
Satoru gave a small smile, barely upturning the ends of his mouth, but enough to reassure Drew.
“I don’t really know what I want either,” He agreed, finally releasing Drew’s hands, and using his own to rub gently at his forehead. “But – I’d be willing to try, um, something. You know, if you do?”
Drew’s heart was racing. He shifted himself to sit at Satoru’s side, bringing them closer, and he bumped their shoulders together jovially. A wide grin was begging to burst across his face, and he tucked his head down to hide it from Satoru.
“Hey, look at me.”
Satoru’s hand touched itself to Drew’s jawline, and he turned him so that they were facing each other. Drew could feel the fingers shaking against him, and he placed his own hand over the top of Satoru’s to quell the boy’s nerves – or at least, show him that he was just as scared.
Satoru smiled fully, stroking a thumb over his cheek, and Drew let himself release his own grin.
“We’re still best friends,” Satoru said to him, and Drew withheld his smirk when he realised neither of them could take their eyes from the other’s mouth. “We’ll just – add in a few more things to that friendship. Nothing has to change, really.”
“Until we want it to.” Drew murmured.
“Until we want it to.” Satoru nodded, and Drew closed his eyes, sighing in relief. Their hands were still against his face, and he gave Satoru’s a gentle squeeze before he brought it down to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the palm. He looked back at his friend, who’s eyes were wide and eager – and just a little dewy from tears.
“Movie night?” He whispered.
“I’ll go get my blankets.”
Drew made to move from the bed, but found himself caught by the wrist as he stood. He turned to look back, and Satoru was biting his lip apprehensively.
“I think we could share mine tonight?”
Drew could hear the fear in his voice, and he smiled in response.
I don't know why, but I feel that this is how Windsor is in general, but more specifically Drew and Saturo when preparing for a science fair. Even fire extinguishers might not be enough for those boys XD
(the gifs do not belong to me and the wonderful Dalton boys are for the lovely Cp Coulter)
Satoru scrambled up from the ground, his eyes wide and one hand clinging to Drew's. He had to get up. His knees stung from the grit on the ground but that was the least of his problems. They had to go and now. No time to whine. He ran with a small limp behind Drew. Their hands never letting go of one another. “Hurry up Sat,” Drews voice was rushed as he tugged the smaller boy with him. They could hear the gunshots behind them, it was far but not far enough, not yet. The duo ran into a small street that was nearly hidden by the huge truck in front of it but Drew had seen it nonetheless. They ran in it just in time as a couple of cars drove into the street they were just in. One second later and they would've been seen, they both realized that.
“In here,” Drew tugged Satoru in front of him, pushing him inside of an old and abandoned room. Sat crawled into one of the corners hidden behind huge boxes and clothes. With one look over his shoulder just to be sure, Drew sat next to him. They huddled up together, hearing the cars and occasional tank passing in the street. Satoru held his breath, burying his head into the nape of Drew's neck. The Texan tightened his arms around the smalller boy. His eyes fixated on the closed door, terrified that one of those soldiers would come in and rip Satoru straight out of his arms. But the door didn't open and after what seemed like forever the sounds of cars faded. Soon all that could be heared was the sound of their own laboured breathing. Drew's soft breathes moved Sat's short black hair softly as he spoke. “I-I think they're gone.”
Satoru lifted his head and stared at the door. “We should wait a bit longer, just to be safe.” Drew simply nodded in agreement.
A good hour later they finally dared to move from their spot. Untangling themselves from one another they stretched their legs. Drew went to look if it was safe enough to go outside. It was, he discovered with relief and went back inside to find Satoru rumaging through cabinets in what looked like a little kitchen.
“Look what I found,” He pointed to the table in front of him.
“Is..Is that bacon?” The blond grinned. “It is.”
“That's great Sat,” Satoru managed a small smile as Drew looked through what he had put on the table next to the bacon. Some bread, fruit, tinned food and milk. “Not that much but the tinned food will last us a while at least.”
“We still have some food left from before. Maybe we should try to hit a supermarket again..” Sat whispered and bit into an apple quickly. The run had made him quite hungry.
Drew chewed on his lip as he packed the new supplies in their bags, “We should but not here, ok?”
The other boy nodded while nibbling, the taste of an apple had never tasted so sweet before.
“So let's hit another place.”
“We should stay here til tonight and move then. I mean..there could be more of them left...” The Japanese boy's eyes glazed over “Sat...” Drew whispered, setting his bag aside to gather him in his arms. “We'll be fine Sat. We made it this far. The rest of the world won't allow the Federation to continue this. They can't, you know that.”
“Then where are they? Drew it's been three months and eleven days, we don't even know what's going on out there, we don't know where the others are!”
“I know, I know but we can't give up. We can't Sat... We owe it to those that didn't make it as far as we did..to Merril.”
Satoru gazed at him in silence before he sighed. Drew was right, of course he was. They might be very smart, they were still teenagers caught in a meaningless war. “You're right,” he sighed and gave the blonde a small but genuine smile. Drew quickly pecked his cheek. “C'mon let's get everything together and rest a little before going.”
They turned back to their bags, filling them with the food and some other supplies they thought could or might come in handy later on.
An hour later they decided to risk moving out of their shelter. Heading opposite of where the cars had gone. The bigger the distance the better. Not wanting to pass the square, they didn't want to see the bloodbath they knew must've happened there, they took the little sideroads and walked through a park in silence. In the cover of then nightfall they briefly dared to hold hands again. It was a small comfort but it reassured them that the other was there and hadn't somehow suddenly dissapeared. Not a word was said while they walked, ears open for any kind of sound and eyes flashing around warily. The smallest of sounds had them tense and ready to run if it was necessary. A branch snapped on their right, they let go of each others hand fast and stopped walking.
Both boys' eyes stared at the trees and bushes, they both prayed that it wasn't a Federation soldier or a sympatizer. For a full two minutes nothing happened and then a small creature ran out of the bush and straight passed them to the tree behind them. A squirrel. Just a tiny squirrel. Satoru closed his eyes briefly, calming his racing heart, as they started to walk again? As much as Drew, and Sat, wanted to take the other's had again, they didn't. One try was enough, so they started to walk closely but not too close. They walked for hours, sticking to small roads, parks and small forests. They had more chance of outrunning someone there than in a city. And for once they were greatfull for their gymteacher back at Dalton for assigning them laps at the start of every gymclass.
Just a litte bit further. Drew told himself as tiredness hit hard. Just a bit. There's a town right there, we can make it. I'ts not that far. With a small burst of energy he grabbed Sat's hand and walked faster. The Japanese boy didn't question him, he was looking down at the ground just as tired, and walked with. The town they reached was small, smaller campared to the city they had just left. Once they were in it Drew let go of his boyfriend's hand and both cautiously looked around. It was something they had agreed on after a small arguement. Satoru didn't want Drew to be killed for being with a gay “Jap” and being gay himself. So distancing himself for half of it and just appearing as best friends was best. Drew went along with it since he couldn't deny Sat anything. The houses they passed were all dark and empty. The owners having abandonded it to flee for safety.
“What are you kids doing here.”
The gruff voice came out of nowhere from behind them, startling them both. Out of reflex Drew immediately shoved Satoru behind him in a small attempt to keep him safe, just in case. The man standing a few feet away from them wasn't that tall and after their eyes had adjusted to the light of his flashlight they saw that it wasn't a young man either. They felt uncomfortable as the stranger's eyes flashed from one to the other and hoped desperately he wasn't in the Federation.
“You kids are nuts. C'mon follow me.” The older man, around his forties, turned around and started to walk away from them. Satoru and Drew glanced at each other, unsure what to do. Was it safe to follow this man, should they take the gamble. They weren't sure why they did followed him, for all they knew he could be with the enemy but the fact that he wasn't repulsed that Satoru was Japanese made them hope. The older man lead them to one of the houses. Standing close together they entered it, the scent of a freshly cooked meal slammed into them and made their mouths water. They didn't dare to move as the man took of his coat, a gentle voice rang through the hallway.
“Eric? Is that you?”
“Of course. Carla I brought some guests with me to.”
“Guests? What do you mean?”
Out of the door on their right a woman appeared, her voice changed from it's cautious tone the moment she saw them. “Oh.” She looked at them for a second before smiling. “Well then don't just stand there dears, come on in!”
Drew grabbed Sat's hand out of reflex as they followed the woman, the man, Eric, followed behind them. Carla grabbed two more plates and extra cutlery, placing it on the table for them. A couple of candles were lit around the kitchen. “Sit down dears.” She smiled kindly at them, gesturing to the chairs in front of them.
Dinner was spend mostly in silence. Once in a while Eric or Carla would say something or ask them a question to which they answered but neither Drew or Satoru spoke up otherwise. Eating dinner with people almost felt alien and they knew, they couldn't stay here. So when dinner was over and Carla brought them to a room upstairs so they could sleep in decent beds, they told her that it was alright. The meal had been enough help of the couple. “Nonsense, you two look dead on your feet! We don't mind alright? And don't you go worrying, we're helping you two because it's a decent thing to do. Now off you go, to bed.” She smiled at them before leaving the room. Satoru looked at Drew while taking off his bag and jacket. “One night. Just..One night, I don't want them to be hurt because of me, because of us.”
“One night,” Drew agreed as they crawled into the same bed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. Sleep came instantly as they could finally relax their tired bodies.
They woke up early in the morning, wellrested and for once they didn't wake up feeling tired still. Drew played with Sat's hair as they lay in silence, not yet wanting to face the day. Satoru's hand lay on his chest, Drew's steady heartbeat was like the rhythm of a lullaby to him. “I love you Sat.” The Japanese boy smiled softly. “I love you Drew.” They remained silent, content to just hold on to eachother for just a little while. After a while soft sounds could be heard from downstairs and they realized that they should go now eventhough they wished they could stay. So they got out of bed and grabbed their stuff, Drew couldn't help but already miss the bed.
“Carla?” The woman turned around with a freshly made bread in her hands and smiled softly at them. “Goodmorning you two. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, we did. Thank you for letting us stay the night.” Drew looked at her.
“But you're going to leave now.” They looked at her in surprise. “It's alright. We both figured that you would. Although we wouldn't mind if you stayed.”
Satoru shook his head and spoke up softly. “We don't want to get you in trouble, if they find us here they might kill you.”
“I know and I know I can't convince you to stay but I do demand you take this with you.” Carla pointed to the small bag on the table. “It's some food and water to last you for some days.”
“Thank you Carla.” Drew grabbed the bag, wishing there was something they could do for her, just to repay their kindness.
And just like that they left, with only a small goodbye. They were on the road again but having met Carla and Eric made them hopeful, not everyone was like the Federation. There was still some good left in this country. It was just hard to find.
