#rel.jack&parker

[royalbloodedbastards]

Jack didn’t know why he was so nervous to send Parker a text. Or, maybe he knew exactly he was so nervous—which only made it worse.

Hey, any chance you know how to ride a bike lol

Was it too casual for having near-ghosted him for a week? Was it just the right amount of casual? Maybe Jack needed to—

Fwoop. 

The little “Delivered” notification popped up under the text as Jack’s thumb grazed over the ‘Send’ button. Well, no use in overthinking it now. Jack sighed and pocketed his phone, looking up just in time to avoid colliding with someone leaving the arena.

“Oh, sorry, I—” Jack froze. “Parker. Hey,” he smiled awkwardly. “I literally just texted you.”

[royalbloodedbastards]

Walking home from Akira’s rooftop party, Jack strolled silently alongside Parker with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He had been trying to figure out what to say but now that the streetlights of downtown were melting into a row of pines, Jack knew his window of opportunity was shrinking. “What happened with Blue? I thought you were friends.”

[royalbloodedbastards]

Jack watched his feet fall one in front of the other. He could feel himself coming down off his high, especially after a sobering moment with Casey on the Twister mat, but Jack thought he would milk the last few vestiges of inner serenity while he could. “Thanks for walking with me.” Jack smiled at Parker, who walked alongside him. “Catch me now, murderers.”

[royalbloodedbastards]

chatzy // germs & jocks, linguini & jacques

DATE: Friday, April 17, 2020 CHARACTERS: Jack and Parker ABOUT: Mini-golf? Hair pulling? Germs? Jocks? Gay clowns? Karen? Whitney Houston? 

Parker knocked on Jack’s cabin door and smoothed his shirt, which was decidedly not a polo. He stood back and tilted his head to look up at the cabin. He never really understood why the people who designed the cabin went with this fucked up idea rather than one with bedrooms and wifi like his old one. He’d never been inside the cabin, but he figured it would be disorienting to see everyone walking by from the outside. “Hey!” He smiled when Jack answered the door, trying not to sound overly excited.

Lil' Jack had already beaten Jack to the door by the time Parker knocked. The huge windows made it easy to tell when anybody was coming near—not that anybody did—and they had become Lil' Jack's favorite place to pass the time people-watching. "Hey," Jack smiled as he opened the door. "Lil' Jack, sit," he tried to instruct as the dog raced forward to sniff Parker's shoes. "Sit!"

Parker smiled down at the little dog at his feet. "Hey buddy." He crouched before realizing that maybe Jack wanted to give his dog a lesson in discipline and that he might be reinforcing bad behaviors. "Is it cool if I pet him?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "He likes it when you scratch under his chin. I mean—I think he does? Sometimes he'll fall over but I can't tell if that means he's in ecstasy or if he's just given up."

Parker pet the dog that was jumping and wiggling at his feet. He scratched under his chin and the dog took a seat. He laughed a bit, looking up at (apparent) Big Jack. “Is he coming with us?” He laughed.

"So everyone can see the white-haired cyclops has a dog equivalent with the same name? Absolutely not," Jack declared. "He can take care of himself for a few hours."

Parker laughed again and gave the dog another pat before he stood. “Got all your putters ready?”

Jack stood aside to let Lil' Jack run back into the living room. "My... Oh. Um. Are we supposed to bring our own? Because, I don't—" He looked back into his house, trying to think of something he could use.

Parker shook his head quickly. “Oh! No, that was a joke.” He laughed a bit. “I just meant, like, are you ready for mini golf?”

"Oh." Jack smiled in relief. "Yeah, I'm ready." He started to step outside to close the door but paused halfway. "Wait, is what I'm wearing fine? I mean—I know we joked about suits but now I'm not sure what people wear to mini golf." He held out his hands so that Parker could assess his black shirt, black jean outfit.

Parker snorted and shook his head. “There isn’t , like, a dress code for mini golf. You look fine.” He rocked back on his heels. “I parked just over...” He motioned vaguely. “Have you never done mini golf before?”

Jack stepped out onto his porch and shut the door behind him. "Jack is really sheltered, surprise, surprise," he jokingly confirmed. "It always looks fun on TV though. The windmills."

Parker exhaled hard in a laugh and led them to the car. "It is fun! I haven't been in a while, but I like it when the tubes lead to other holes." He tilted his head. "You'll see what I mean when I get there. How was work?" He raised his eyebrows a bit.

Jack couldn't imagine what Parker was trying to say, but just nodded along anyway. "Work was... Nice," Jack lied. "I'm learning how to milk animals. Which I did not realize was going to be part of it."

"Ew," Parker said without thinking. "Uh, I mean, like... how was that?" He shook his head and opened the passenger door for Jack before circling around to get into the driver's seat.

Jack's heartbeat did a little flutter when Parker opened the door for him. He laughed and shook his head. "'Ew' is honestly a great word for it." He climbed into the seat and shut the door, then waited for Parker to get in before continuing. "It feels like... I'm violating the cow? But also weirdly satisfying. I..." He shook his head and put his hands up. "Okay, but that makes it sound like I'm a farm predator and that's really not what I meant."

Parker laughed as he buckled himself in. "Oh my God. I... guess I get it?" He laughed again and pulled out from where he was parked. "Can't say I've milked many cows though, fortunately enough. So you're, like, full milkman then? Like, get the milk, bottle it, deliver it?"

Jack pressed his lips together. "Yeah. Seems like it." He looked out the window, trying to remember the last time he was in a car. "Oh, but I don't have to wear a milkman outfit. To answer your question from the other day."

"Shame." Parker smiled and glanced at Jack as he pulled onto the road. "Not sure that's really your style though."

"Not really," Jack laughed. He looked over to watch Parker's hands on the steering wheel, occasionally glancing down to see his feet on the pedals.

Parker glanced at the GPS. "Can you tell me when my turn is? I hate when it talks so I mute it but then I have to constantly look at it," he admitted with a bit of a laugh. "Hard to drive without a navigator because of it.”

"Oh, yeah." Jack felt strangely excited about stepping into the role of a navigator. "You've got a mile," he instructed. "Then it's a right." He leaned back in his seat and checked his reflection in the side mirror. He wiggled his eyepatch around, trying to adjust it to look right on his face, but couldn't quite get it to sit the way he wanted. He sighed and turned back to the GPS instead. "Quarter of a mile.”

Parker turned when he was supposed to. "Thanks." He gave a small nod. "Sorry for taking you somewhere where you have a lack of experience, but I'm not gonna hold back." He grinned. "I'm gonna absolutely destroy you at mini golf."

Jack smiled. "I'd be kinda disappointed if you didn't. Like, if you took me on a date to mini golf but you're actually shit at mini golf? I'd judge you."

Parker laughed, a small flutter in his stomach as Jack mentioned the word date. "Yeah. I gotta play to my strengths. Last person I did this with could control the wind, and so I had to get really good to compete with that."

"Wait, what?" Jack laughed. "Ugh, people with powers are wild. Imagine being the wind god and that's what your kid is doing with their divine skills."

Parker shook his head. "Yeah. She could also summon lightning, but that was only when I won," he joked. "I think I'm lucky I don't have any powers, honestly, they seem..." He stopped himself from saying more, given who he was talking to, then wondered why he said anything. "Um, do I have another turn soon?"

Jack muttered a knowing, "Hm." He glanced down at the GPS and nodded. "Sorry, yeah—half a mile it's gonna be a left." He looked over at Parker and just watched him drive for a moment before chuckling. "I'm sorry—uh... Do you mind if I just, like..." Jack shook his head. "Never mind."

Parker glanced at Jack and raised an eyebrow before looking back at the road. "Do I mind if you...?"

Jack started turning pink and just shook his head, laughing. "Ugh, nothing. You're gonna think I'm a total loser if I ask and I'm already about to humiliate myself playing a sport."

Parker shook his head. "I can go easy on you. I promise I'm not that good at mini golf, I haven't done it in years."

"Sure," Jack said, his tone dripping with disbelief. He eyed the radio on the dashboard for a moment but said nothing about it. "This is the turn."

Parker shrugged one shoulder and didn't notice Jack's look. He put on his blinker and turned. "Uh, how's the gym going?"

Jack laughed. "Um. Fine. I have no idea what I'm doing so I probably look ridiculous." Jack shrugged. "I went at like, 2pm and there was nobody there. Hopefully it stays that way." He propped his elbow up on the window ledge so he could rest his head on his hand. He grinned at Parker coyly. "Do you lift?"

Parker smiled at the thought of Jack working out. He couldn't really imagine it. He snorted. "Yeah, gotta get those gains. Never skip leg day and all that. That's why I'm so hot."

Jack turned his face into his hand and laughed. "If that's what it takes to look the way you did in that ice cream jumper, then yeah. Never skip leg day." Jack saw a huge light up sign flickering ahead and pointed at it. "Is that the one?"

Parker grinned. "I still have it, if you want to borrow it and track your progress." He bobbed his head and pulled into the parking lot. "Yep! You ready for windmills and weird clowns?" He unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

Jack paused. "Wait, what?" He climbed out of the passenger seat. "Weird clowns? What kind of place is this?"

Parker shut the door behind him and shook his head. "Like, they have a bunch of weird stuff like that, like you have to pass the ball through the mouth of a clown on one of them. Are you afraid of clowns? It's just one hole."

Jack laughed. "I'm not. I think they're kinda sad." Jack looked ahead at the entrance to the mini golf area and felt a shudder run down his back. "Um, hang on. Can I talk to you before we go in there?"

Parker tilted his head, confused. "Sad?" He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Um, yeah, sure."

"Okay, sorry—I don't mean to be a huge drama queen all the time. I'm just..." Jack shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Just kinda nervous? It's been a while since I've been around people who aren't, like... Demigods. And I'm kinda just remembering now that normal people aren't, like... Used to me. What I do. Sorry—am I making sense?" Jack was bouncing up and down on his heels.

"Oh." Parker nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah. Um, we can just make sure that nobody touches you? Or, did you not want to go in anymore?"

"No, I definitely wanna go in," Jack quickly clarified. "Um. I'm just—I don't really know how my powers work on people people? Sorry." Jack shook his head. "I shouldn't have brought it up. Everything's probably gonna be okay and I'm... Let's just—" Jack made a shooping motion toward the entrance.

Parker nodded slowly. "Okay. Let me know if you feel uncomfortable at all." He started walking to the entrance and smiled at Jack. "Um, I brought gloves."

Jack smiled back. "Oh." He couldn't tell if his nerves were coming from a place of happiness or anxiety. Jack told himself they were happy. He held out his hands to take the gloves and added, "Thanks."

Parker pulled plastic gloves from his pocket and handed them to Jack. When they entered, Parker didn't seem to notice the uneasy glances in their direction. He paid for both of them and picked out a few putters, trying to figure out which one was good for his height. "I grabbed us some balls, but they might be the same colour." He held out a red ball and a green one.

Jack tried to keep his head down, ignoring the glances of strangers as he passed by. He slipped the gloves on as Parker paid then looked down at the golf balls he picked out. Jack laughed. "Um, do you wanna get another color?" He plucked the green one from Parker's hand. "This one is green."

Parker put away the red ball and picked out a yellow one. "What's this?"

"Yellow," Jack replied. "Uh, how many colors can you see?"

"I've never counted!" Parker put away the ball and picked out a purple one. "This is... blue?"

Jack smiled. "Purple."

"Hmm." Parker nodded. "Well, it's different than that one." He walked to the first hole and put his ball down. "You know how this works, right?"

Jack scoffed. "I'm not an idiot Parker." He looked down the green and pursed his lips. "But just for your sake, maybe you should explain how it works."

Parker's face fell when Jack scoffed, afraid that he'd offended him, but then grinned. "Um, well, you have to start on this end." He put his ball down. "And then you hit it with the putter and try to get it in the hole. And then we write down how many hits it takes to get it in, and whoever has the lowest score wins." He nodded. "Do you wanna go first, or should I?"

Jack followed along. He had known how the game worked, it turned out, but was glad that he wasn't just imagining it. "Uh, let me go first. Before you destroy my self-confidence with your skills," Jack joked. He set his ball down, looked toward the hole, and haphazardly swung his putter, sending the ball bouncing down the green. "Fuck," he laughed.

Parker smiled and watched Jack. "Okay, now just go until you get it in." He swung his putter back and forth. "You know, I just realized that I keep trying to make you do sporty things. Next time we can do something more to your strengths, I promise. We can, um... milk cows?" He joked.

Jack shoved Parker. "Ew, shut up!" He laughed and crossed his arms. "Ugh. If that becomes my thing, I'm gonna like... Walk into the sea."

Parker laughed and wasn't even moved by Jack's shove. "Fine, fine, what's your thing then? Being cute and moody?"

Jack felt his cheeks warming. "I mean, duh." He stepped aside so Parker could tee up. "I don't know... Like... Music? I'm not really good at anything, TBH. It's something I've actually been thinking about. Kinda why I wanted to get a job."

Parker put his ball down and shot. The ball went straight into the hole, then he looked back at Jack. "And a dog? Or was that just because you guys match?"

"Uh, no," Jack tried not to look too impressed that Parker scored a hole in one. "I don't really know why I did that." Jack shrugged. "I guess... It's nice to have someone around who doesn't see me for what I'm lacking, or for what I can't do. I'm just... A person." Jack's eyes flickered to Parker's. "But also because we match."

Jack shrugged, following Parker down the green. "I guess it's because he's an animal? I haven't had any issues with the cows either, so..." He looked at his ball sitting ten feet away from the hole. "Do I hit it again or am I out because you already got it in?"

Parker shook his head and stood back. "You just keep going, and then we track how many hits it takes you to get it in." He swung his putter back and forth again. "He's sweet. Does he like your music?"

"Oh cool, so we drag it out for maximum shame. I love that," Jack joked, putting the ball once more. The ball came to a stop about two feet from the hole. "I guess? He hasn't complained about it yet. We'll see if he runs away." Jack walked over to the hole and putted once again. The ball clattered as it fell into the plastic cup. Jack smiled over at Parker and pointed at himself. "Jock."

"It'd be cute if he howled along with it or something. You can put him on a track." Parker laughed. "Your French needs some improvement." He started off to the next obstacle.

Jack furrowed his brow at Parker's joke, not quite getting it. "I'll... Think about that." Jack looked around at the three greens surrounding them and pointed at the nearest one. "Um, I'm assuming this is the next one because of this sidewalk thing, but you're the golf expert."

Parker didn't process that Jack wouldn't get the joke, so he moved on. "Yeah, it's pretty straightforward, kinda leads you right around the course." He tapped Jack's leg with his club. "This one's got a little hill, and I think the next one has the windmill, so it'll actually get exciting." He put the ball down, tapped it, and ran to the top of the hill to meet it. "What's your favourite food?"

Jack watched Parker putt so that he could try to recreate the same shot. Once Parker left, Jack lined up his ball the same way and gave a good, hard hit. "Um, not sure," Jack thought out loud as the ball careened down the green. "Maybe açai bowls? I, like... Eat them sometimes," he shrugged.

Parker moved out of the way so that he wouldn't mess up the shot, then took his own, managing to just get the ball into the hole. "Okay." He nodded, pocketing that information. "Do you... dye your hair that colour?"

Jack laughed as he lined up his shot. "No. That's the natural color. My mom had white hair when she was young too." He putted the ball, once again coming within three feet of the hole. "What else do you wanna know?"

Parker hummed and rocked back and forth on his feet. "Um, I don't know," he admitted with a small smile. "Have you ever seen Ratatouille? I think you'd like it."

Jack walked over to the ball and putted it. Another miss. He furrowed his brow at Parker with a hint of a smile. "What makes you think I'd like it?"

"The hair pulling?" Parker laughed as soon as the words left his mouth. "Um, but, like, um, it's just funny. Like, the rat is really sarcastic in it. It's like, your sense of humor."

Jack's face got hot as soon as Parker answered the question. He bit his lip and nodded his head for a moment. "So if I'm Remy..." He grinned at Parker. "Is this you asking me to pull your hair?"

Parker flushed and wondered if he could have avoided this situation? There was nothing he could have said or done differently that would have prevented this, he thought. "Um, please don't ask me if I want you to pull my hair while saying you're Remy."

Jack almost doubled over from the laugh that came out of him. He used his putter as a support as he bent over laughing. "Oh my gods." Jack clutched his stomach. "Fuck," he cackled. "Oh my gods. Ow."

Parker flushed somehow hotter and pressed a hand into his cheek as he laughed, shaking his head. "Oh my God." He squeezed his eyes shut and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow, please just... ignore everything I say, ever. Thanks."

Jack shook his head. "I like the things you say." He tried to regain his composure and his breath so he could line up to take the shot. Still chuckling, Jack putted his ball into the hole and scooped it right back up into his hand. He looked at Parker, then up at his hair, then burst out laughing again.

Parker kept his hand pressed to his face as he smiled at Jack, and then groaned when he started laughing again, though he joined him soon. “Shut up! Just... ugh.”

"Sorry!" Jack tried to calm down. "Oh my gods... Wow." As Jack's breath slowed, he pulled up the bottom of his shirt to dab his eye dry and blot under the edges of his eye patch. "Sorry, wow. That was..." He smiled at Parker. "Okay. Hair pulling. Got it."

“Ugh.” Parker rolled his eyes but didn’t deny it as he grinned, leading them to the next hole. “Your much-awaited windmill. Do you want to go first?”

"Sure," Jack shrugged. "I think I get how it works now." Jack lined up his shot and gave a solid putt, sending the ball halfway down the grain. Jack stepped off the tee and gestured for Parker to take his turn. "Mr. Linguini."

Parker groaned dramatically. “You’re...” He shook his head. “I’m never gonna live that down, huh? And you’re the one who called himself a rat!”

"I think you'll live it right up until the next time you say something equally incredible," Jack speculated. "I still think about Yeast Man."

Parker rubbed his cheek and wondered how he could still speak with how far his foot was shoved into his mouth every time he opened it. “You’re... annoying.” He was still grinning. He put down the ball, shot, and frowned as it bounced back after hitting against the windmill. “You’re up, Bacteria Boy.”

Jack made his way over to his ball and gave it another putt towards the hole without really thinking about it. The ball clinked as it sunk into the hole. Jack threw an arm up. "Oh my gods! Plus two for Bacteria Boy!" He sauntered over to Parker with a huge grin on his face. "Eat my bacteria, bitch."

Parker leaned on his putter as Jack walked over, and bit his lip as he smiled at him. “You’re... Cute.” He tapped Jack’s shin with his putter. “Especially since you think this means you have a chance. I’m still gonna destroy you.”

"I'll believe it when I see it," Jack taunted, tapping Parker's butt with the handle end of his putter. "Good luck."

Parker’s eyes glinted, the competition taking priority over flirting. He watched the windmill turn a few times, tapped his ball, and timed it so that it streaked past the blades and into the hole. “Ha! You eat my bacteria. Bitch,” he added as an afterthought.

Jack rested his head in his hand, watching Parker sink his shot. He shook his head, smiling. "Eat your yeast?" Jack made his way to the next hole, eager to play now that he felt like he had some actual momentum going.

“Ew.” Parker snorted as he followed after Jack. “This is one of the tube ones,” he said excitedly. There were three holes this time, and each one led to a different place, one being straight into the end hole, the other two slightly further away. “I’ll start!” He put his ball down and shot. The ball bounced around the green, careening straight past the hole that led to the end, and into one of the other tubes. “Hm.”

Watching Parker's ball sail past one hole and into another—spitting out at a non ideal location—Jack just nodded his head. "Okay," he mumbled as he took his place on the tee. Jack made a line in the air with his putter from his ball to the desired hole before putting. Then, Jack watched as his ball sunk into the tube, spat back out further downhill, and roll straight into the cup. Jack turned to Parker, mouth agape. "Eat. My. Fucking. Germs. Parker."

Parker watched as Jack’s ball went exactly where it was supposed to and touched his tongue to his teeth as he shook his head, smiling. “Whatever. I’m still beating you.” He poked a finger into Jack’s chest before scampering down to where his ball was. He tapped it lightly and it stopped about an inch away from the hole. He let out a frustrated breath and tapped it again, then pulled it from the cup.

"Uh-huh," Jack taunted as he watched Parker miss his shot. "Um... I'm basing my decision to date you again entirely on your performance tonight. So..." Jack tapped his putter against Parker's shoe with a smile.

"You know, that's not the first time I've heard that." Parker laughed. "And I've always gotten a second date."

Somehow, Jack was the one turning pink. He nudged his shoulder against Parker's as he passed him and headed toward the next hole. "I like the confidence."

Parker followed Jack with a spring in his step. “Thanks. Does it add to the performance for you?” He raised his eyebrows before dropping his ball on the next green. “Ugh, this one is my least favorite. You have to make sure it doesn’t get in the water.” There was a narrow bridge leading straight for the hole, and then larger passes over the sides. Parker considered his options and what Jack had just said about liking his confidence. He lined up a shot and sent the ball halfway across the narrow pass before it tipped over and fell into the water. “Shoot.” He ran over and reached in to fish it out, then shook the water from his hand. “Well...” He shrugged.

"It helps," Jack remarked. He surveyed the course as Parker lined up for his shot. It looked promising up until the ball swerved off the edge of the bridge. "What does it mean if it falls in the water?"

Parker shook his head. “It counts as a hit, but I have to start from where I last hit it.”

Jack nodded and lined up his shot. "Okay." He wasn't sure whether to take it down the center or to the sides and didn't quite make up his mind before he hit the ball. Jack watched as it rolled across the green and straight into the water. "Well..." Jack grinned and looked over at Parker as he went to pick up the ball. "This feels right."

Parker smiled and tapped his golf ball to Jack’s. “Cheers.” He dropped the ball and nodded. “Well, middle or bust, right?” He hit the ball hard, sending it straight into the water. “Hmm.”

Jack laughed as Parker confidently sent his ball into the water. "Ugh, oh my gods, I might be here all night." Jack lined up his ball at the tee once more. This time, trying to be more aggressive with his swing, he wound the club back a bit further before taking his shot. Jack swung his putter with gusto, missing the ball entirely and then sending it flying backwards on the rebound. "Oh my fucking gods—" Jack cackled, watching his ball bounced onto a different green. 

Jack looked both ways before crossing the small boundary to retrieve his ball. "Sorry," Jack apologized to a small child as he reached around them to grab the ball. "I'm just—" As Jack picked up the ball, giving a little small to the kid, the kid gasped audibly. "Oh no—" Before Jack could get out another word, the child let out a wailing scream and sprinted in a different direction. Jack, dipping his head, walked back towards his hole without saying another word.

Parker laughed as Jack sent his ball backwards. “Right attitude, wrong direction!” He crouched to pluck his ball out of the water, but his head shot up as he heard a scream. He frowned and tilted his head as Jack returned. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Jack shrugged, trying to hold a smile. “Uh, yeah. Just, uh... Freaked a kid out, I guess.” He shook his head and put the ball back on the tee. “Not a big deal. I’ll just—or sorry, it’s your turn, right? Let’s just—“ Jack scratched his head and pointed at the tee with his putter. “Yeah.”

Parker ran a hand through his hair and nodded, not wanting to push anything. He dropped the ball to the ground and swung, finally managing to make it over the small bridge, just barely. "Ugh, finally. Acai bowls are gonna be your second favorite food after how many of my germs you eat."

Jack mustered up a smile. "Didn't know we were gonna be having dinner on this date," he joked feebly. Jack lined up to putt again. A swing. A miss. Jack watched as the ball, clipped by the corner of the putter, rolled an entire three inches away before slowing to a stop. He closed his eyes and exhaled a laugh. "I... Suck."

Parker pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. "At least you hit it forward this time?" He tapped his ball and get it into the cup with a satisfying noise. He held his putter out towards Jack. "If you want, I can do that cute thing where I wrap my arms around you and show you how to line up a shot and then you can gush about how sporty I am."

Jack smiled and sighed in relief. "I was afraid that I was gonna have to be the one to ask." Jack stepped forward a bit and gestured to the space beside him. "Please."

Parker grinned, happy that Jack agreed and didn't leave him feeling like a jerk. He walked around the water, put his putter down, and wrapped his arms around Jack easily. He was always somewhat surprised about how small Jack was when he was this close to him. His hands met the plastic of Jack's gloves and his heart raced as he lined up the shot. "Okay, we're still going for middle or bust, obviously." He helped Jack swing, sighing in relief when the ball rolled smoothly over the narrow path, stopping close to the cup. "Oh, thank God," he said under his breath. He pressed a kiss to Jack's shoulder before he pulled away, smiling. He pointed to himself. "Jock."

Jack hoped that Parker wasn't actually trying to teach him anything in earnest, because all he could focus on was how firm Parker's arms felt against his. Jack cheered quietly when the ball sank into the whole, but his voice quickly rose into a crack when he felt Parker plant a kiss on his shoulder. Face thoroughly flushed, Jack laughed at Parker's assertion. "Jacques," Jack responded, pointing to himself. "I finally got it a few minutes ago but didn't know how to bring it up again."

Parker tossed his head back as he laughed and moved to grab his golf club again. “Oh, I thought you didn’t find it funny.” He leaned back on his putter and smiled at Jack. “Now you can gush about how sporty I am.”

Jack snorted. "Oh my gods, you're so sporty," he droned. "Do me in the locker room." Jack smirked in Parker's direction as he went to grab his ball. "We can be that jock quarterback and depressed gay kid trope in all the indie movies."

Parker laughed more, but couldn’t help but bask in the compliments, even if they were delivered sarcastically and at his own request. “My dream come true. Better than...” He shook his head and put his putter over his shoulder. “Ready for the next hole? I won’t help you cheat on the next one.”

"Are you sure? Because I don't think I totally got that swing, you might have to show me again," Jack chided as he stood beside the next tee.

Parker snickered and tapped the back of Jack's leg with his club. "I don't trust you. You're pretending you're being flirty when you're really just trying to beat me."

Jack scoffed. "I can't believe you think that I'd have to pretend to flirt. I'm literally never not flirting with you, Parker. Do you know me at all?" Jack shook his head and teed his ball. "Disgusting." Jack took his shot and watched his ball land a respectable distance from the hole.

Parker rested his hand on his cheek. “Ugh, whatever.” He dipped his head and hit the ball, sending it just slightly ahead of Jack’s. “So you were being actually flirty while also trying to get me to win for you.”

"Yeah, duh," Jack explained as he walked over to take his next shot. "I mean, if you help me win, it's almost like you still won, so it's kind of a win-win." Jack took his shot and the ball fell into the hole. Jack shrugged. "Just saying."

Parker rolled his eyes, still smiling. He rubbed his jaw and took his shot, getting the ball in after Jack. "Fine." He tapped his putter against Jack's shoe. "You've convinced me. I'll win for the both of us and then do you in the locker room." Even using the words Jack had didn't stop Parker from flushing slightly, and he tipped his head back so he wouldn't have to see Jack laugh at him. He turned to walk to the next green. "I think we're almost through the course. We've been doing pretty well, actually," he said as he checked the sheet of paper he was keeping track of their scores on.

Jack's laughter was diluted with a rush of nerves (hope?) that Parker was being serious. He followed Parker to the next green and peeked over at the piece of paper. "Who's winning?"

Parker moved the paper so that Jack could see it as well. “You have sixteen, and I have thirteen, so me.”

Jack snatched the piece of paper away from Parker and replaced it with his hand. "Okay, but barely. I'm like, a very close runner up."

Parker let Jack take it and smirked. "Second place is also last place when there's only two people."

"I guess that puts you second to last." Jack lifted up their hands to kiss his own thumb before letting go so that he could make his putt. The ball rolled across the green straight into a carpeted 'sand' trap. "Ugh."

Parker laughed and ducked his head, rubbing his cheek. "I guess so." He snorted at Jack's attempt and stepped up as though to show him exactly how to execute the shot perfectly. He hit the ball in an almost identical way to Jack, ending up in the same trap, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Hm. This is a harder one."

Jack's knees gave way as he cackled. "Oh yeah?" He walked over to see where Parker's ball had landed and laughed again. "Wow. Look at this skill. I'm so turned on right now."

"Shut up." Parker laughed and shook his head as he walked over to meet Jack. "I haven't done this in a while. It's intentionally tricky."

"I can tell." Jack stood in the sand trap and chipped the ball out. The ball bounced onto the green and rolled two feet from the hole. "See that?" Jack smirked. "Jacques."

Parker rolled his eyes and sent the ball out of the trap and closer to Jack's. "I transferred all my skill to you when I showed you how to do it." He reached out to poke Jack's arm. "Are you sure you can't control the wind?"

"Does this answer your question?" Jack sidled up to his ball and gave it a firm putt toward the hole. The ball stopped short two inches away. "Ugh. It was cuter in my head when the ball actually went in.

Parker smiled. "It was still cute."

Jack just tapped the ball into the hole with his putter before picking it up and walking over to Parker so he could take his turn. As he passed Parker, Jack pecked a kiss onto Parker's shoulder. "Good luck." In the distance, Jack thought he saw somebody pointing in his direction, but he chose to ignore it.

Parker poked Jack’s side this time, grinning as he pressed his shoulder into his cheek. “Thanks, not that I need it.” He tapped the ball lightly and pumped his fist as he watched it drop into the cup. “It would’ve been pretty funny if I missed it there.”

Jack smiled anyway. As he walked over to the next hole, Jack got a clearer view of a family in the distance, definitely staring and pointing at him. Jack turned his head away and dropped his ball on the tee, grumbling quietly.

“Good thing I’m too good to.” Parker walked after Jack, and turned his head, frowning as he saw the people staring at them. He turned away and rubbed his cheek.

Jack took his shot without thinking too much about it. The ball stopped respectably close to the hole, but Jack didn't seem too excited, his mind preoccupied with something else. "You're up."

Parker shot and the ball looped around Jack’s, landing in the cup. He smiled and didn’t look behind him again as he tapped Jack’s wrist with the handle of his putter. “Did you ever play that game where you had to spell out a word and then the other person had to guess what word you were spelling?” Parker blinked, realizing he explained it wrong. “Like, you spell out the word by tracing it onto somebody. And then they have to guess what you’re writing on them.”

Jack shook his head. "Sounds like a tough game to play for a dyslexic person," he joked. "Is it fun?"

"Yeah, kinda. I typically would tap out after like, four letters." Parker shrugged. "It could depend on who you play with."

Jack made his way over to his ball. "Where do you draw the word? Like, where on the body?" He lined up to take his shot.

Parker quickly ran over when he remembered that he didn't already take his own ball out of the cup. "Um, could be anywhere? I think on the back mostly, so they can't watch you do it."

Jack waited until Parker was out of the way to make his shot. A narrow miss. "Ugh. That sounds like a cute game though. You could write little messages on someone's back." Jack scribbled in the air, "'You're cute.' 'I like you.' 'End my suffering.' Stuff like that." Jack tapped the ball into the hole with his putter then plucked it out of the cup.

Parker exhaled a laugh. “I think that’s the point of it. You can be like ‘hi’ or ‘eat my fucking germs’ or ‘pull my hair’.” He smirked and looked away from Jack. “I think the last the next one is the last one, and then we can figure out how badly I beat you,” he said as he walked them to the next green.

Jack smiled, resisting the urge to just reach out and spell out any of those things across Parker's back with his tongue. "Ugh, great." Jack looked ahead to the final hole. "Ah, the clown mouth." As they stepped up to the tee, Jack was greeted by an oversized clown head with a ramp leading up to the back of its throat. Jack frowned. "This is some gay shit."

Parker laughed, shaking his head at the clown. "What's gay about two guys trying to get balls into a clown's mouth?"

Jack snickered. "Just stand five feet away from me while we do it." Jack lined up his shot and putted the ball straight up the bridge into the clown's mouth. He walked over to pick it up and noticed that the back of the clown's mouth was some dark abyss. "Oh... Is that it? He just... Eats it?"

Parker grinned and brought his putter up as though to measure out the distance between himself and Jack, taking a step back. He nodded and stepped up, dropping his ball onto the tee. “Uh, yeah, I think it returns the balls to where they’re stored. But you got a hole in one! Finish strong.” He smiled and took the shot, but his face fell slightly as it just bounced off of the clown’s tongue. “Uh, unlike that.”

Jack laughed. "Uh, well you've got like, ten tries left before I catch up to you, so... Literally zero pressure." He stepped in toward Parker and leaned onto his putter like a cane.

“Well there’s some pressure. If I take ten tries you’ll never want to speak to me again because I suggested doing something I’m bad at.” Parker rested his hand on his cheek and stuck out his lip in a pout. “You might need to blow me a kiss, for luck.”

Jack laughed and dropped his head. He pulled off a glove, held it up to Parker's cheek, and planted a kiss right over it. Then, holding it by one end, Jack playfully smacked Parker's cheek with the plastic glove. "Good luck."

Parker waited patiently as Jack complied, and brought his fingers up to his cheek when Jack smacked him. "Hey!" He laughed and pressed his lips together as he took his shot and willed the ball to go where it was supposed to. As it disappeared into the mouth void, he turned to Jack, beaming. "I win."

Jack gave Parker an unimpressed smile. "Okay, but you were always going to beat me anyway." He slipped his glove back on and reached out for Parker's hand. "Sorry I don't have a prize for you."

Parker folded up the score sheet and put it in his pocket before he took Jack’s hand. He rested his putter on his shoulder and sighed, though he couldn’t bring himself to frown. “I’ll let it slide, for now.”

The smile on Jack's fell quickly when he turned toward the exit and saw a woman walking up toward them. "Fuck," he whispered under his breath, trying to avoid her gaze. "Excuse me," the stranger called out sternly. "Did one of you say something to my daughter?"

Parker put his putter down in the return basket and only glanced at the woman for a moment before he shook his head. He forced himself not to let go of Jack’s hand. “Um, sorry, no. We’re actually just leaving too so...”

Jack kept his head down as the woman continued on, her voice rising. "Okay, well she's not crying for nothing. So why don't—" "It was me," Jack piped up. He lifted his head to look at the woman straight on, noticing her whole body flinch when she took in his scar. "My ball rolled onto the other course and I went to go pick it up. I guess your daughter was afraid of my face."

Parker raised his eyebrows at the woman and took a moment to think about what Kieran might say in a situation like this. "I believe that your time might be better spent comforting your child or teaching them manners, rather than haranguing strangers before they leave the park," he said sternly, giving Jack's hand a quick squeeze before he tried to pull him away. "Let's go."

Jack followed Parker's lead and started toward the exit, but not without first seeing the woman's face turn completely red. "I'm—I am so sorry, I didn't know," she blubbered. Jack pressed his lips together to hide his smile. As they stepped off the greens, Jack heard a splash coming from behind them. He turned around to see that the woman had tripped and falling into the artificial river where they had sunk so many shots. Jack clutched Parker's arm with his free hand, trying his hardest not to bust out in laughter. "Oh my fucking gods," he exhaled.

Parker didn’t pay the woman any mind as she apologized, scowling to himself about the entire interaction. He clenched his jaw and turned when he heard a splash, then shook his head and pressed a hand to his forehead as he watched the woman flounder and pull herself out of the water. “Jesus,” he said under his breath as she wailed along with her child. He turned to Jack and shook his head again, smile slowly appearing on his face once more. He ran a hand through his hair. “Oh my... wow. That was...” He couldn’t help himself and started laughing.

Jack turned in toward Parker, unable to stop himself from laughing along. "Wow. She..." He trailed off, too caught up in his fit of giggles. Jack clasped both his hands around Parker's. He bit his lip and focused on Parker's smile for a moment before shaking his head. "Uh, thanks. For sticking up for me."

Parker took a moment to compose himself, and then laughed again before he caught his breath fully. He pressed his cheek into his shoulder and smiled up at Jack. "What else would I do?" He grinned, then started laughing again. "Wow, a book club is gonna get an earful about me shoving that woman into a pond on a mini golf course."

Jack shut his eyes and laughed, squeezing Parker's hand. He peeked over his shoulder to see the woman dripping wet in front of her howling children. "Um, we should probably go before she comes over here and accuses you of assault."

Parker let out another small laugh and brought his hand up to kiss Jack through his glove. "Yeah, let's go." He turned fully now and started back to the car.

Jack followed Parker back to the car in a dreamlike state. He tried his hardest not to stare at Parker the whole time, but failed a few times along the way. Jack didn't realize how alluring it was to have his crush stand up for him against a bully, but he could definitely get used to it. Once they got back to the car, Jack leaned over and kissed Parker's shoulder before letting go to climb in.

Parker had to resist the urge to kiss Jack’s head while it was right there, but grinned at him as he get into the car. He tapped out a happy tune into the roof of the car before getting in himself. He buckled in and pulled out of where they were parked. “Do you like mini golf now?”

Jack clicked his seatbelt in and tipped his head back to smile at Parker. "I like you," he joked. "But I guess the mini golf was pretty fun too."

Parker smiled back at Jack before moving his eyes back to the road. "I think mini golf was more fun with you."

Flushing pink, Jack reached across to squeeze Parker's shoulder. He bit his lip for a moment then looked away. "Uh, remember how there was I thing I was gonna ask you earlier?" Jack asked meekly, his smile audible in his voice.

Parker glanced at Jack for half a second. "Yeah?"

"Ugh," Jack ran a hand over his face, turning an even deeper red. "I can't believe I'm telling you this but I don't know when I'll get the chance again, so..." He looked over at Parker. "I've always wanted to do that cheesy movie thing where you roll down your windows and blast some 80's anthem and just like... Drive away from the camera."

Parker laughed and fumbled around to see if there was anything for Jack to plug his phone into. "Um, go ahead!" He grinned. "Who are you putting on?"

Jack fished around for a cord for a bit then plugged his phone in once he found one. "Um... I only really know the Breakfast Club song," Jack confessed. "Or like... So Emotional."

Parker tapped the steering wheel with one hand. "Play So Emotional! I love Whitney Houston."

Jack wasn't sure why he found Parker's enthusiasm so funny, but he laughed anyway. "Sure," he replied, tapping on the song. Jack turned up the volume dial until the intro percussion was vibrating in his seat, then rolled down his window. Right on time with the music, Jack called out, "I don't know why I like it... I just do!"

Parker rolled his window down as well, grinning widely as he glanced at the GPS and turned. "I think this is great! I... This is great!"

Jack laughed along, still bopping to the music. He turned to watch Parker drive as Whitney nailed the verse. Jack couldn’t resist reaching over and brushing his fingers over Parker’s cheek before resting his hand on Parker’s shoulder. “See I remember the way we touched,” Jack sang along. “I wish I didn’t like it so muuuch!”

Parker struggled to focus on the road. "I get so emotional baby!" He laughed as he sang along. "Every time I think of you!" He didn't point at Jack because he was driving and regretted every moment of it.

Jack kept on singing, his gaze switching back and forth between Parker and the road. There were several things that Jack wanted to do in the moment but all of them carried the risk of crashing, and so Jack just sat back and let the moment wash over every inch of his being.

[royalbloodedbastards]

chatzy // crackship power couple

DATE: Friday, October 24, 2020 CHARACTERS: Jack and Parker ABOUT: Jack tries on his Halloween costume for Parker. 

Dressing up like a monster had lost all its appeal for someone who lived in constant fear of being one year-round. Jack looked at himself in the mirror, clad in a blue jumpsuit and a grey industrial harness. He was dressed like an anime character but still felt monstrous seeing his scarred, red eye glaring back at him from the glass. "Ugh. I don't know," he called out through the bathroom door. "I'm scared to show you."

Parker, admittedly, thought that Halloween was kind of dumb. However, he thought the same thing about animals, and was a fan of a small dog because of Jack. So if this was something his boyfriend enjoyed, he was going to be as enthusiastic as needed. “Shouldn’t I be the one who’s scared?” He joked. “Of, like, your costume?”

Jack snorted. "I'm not dressed scary." He glanced at the mirror again. "Or... I guess it could be. Ugh." He sighed. Jack had never let Parker see him without his eye patch before. The scar across his eye was a disgusting reminder of the pain he had inflicted on someone else and he could barely stand to look at it himself. But after months of dating Parker, Jack had slowly warmed to the idea of coming out of the closet, so to speak, about his face. 

The deciding factor was seeing the character Todoroki for the first time. Contrary to Jack's deep insecurity about his facial scar, this character was somehow considered a heartthrob despite the red splotch across his eye and his cold, reclusive personality. A perfect costume, Jack thought. 

Jack took a deep breath and turned the knob of the bathroom door. "Ta-da," he muttered weakly as he stepped out into the living room, his red scar exposed bare on his face. "It's..." Jack shrugged, gesturing to his eye. "It's part of the costume."

Parker sat on the edge of the couch expectantly, and raised his eyebrows as Jack walked out. It took him a moment to place the character, but once he realized that it was something that Jack had shown him. "Oh! Yeah, yeah." He clapped and pointed at him. "You're that guy! From the anime show. Yeah." After a moment, he added an enthusiastic, "It looks good!" He stood, crossing the room towards him. "I think you look very cute."

Jack was anticipating some sort of comment or wince in reaction to his eye. When one didn't come, Jack was almost disappointed. "Yeah? Is it, like..." He shrugged. "I don't know. Like... You know?"

Parker blinked. "Cool?" He raised his eyebrows. "I think so." He pointed at Jack's chest. "I recognized him, so I think you did a good job."

"Uh." Jack exhaled a laugh. The combination of nerves and being flattered did something really strange to his heartbeat. "Uh, I mean more like... I don't know, do you think it's too much to just, like... Have my face out?" Jack looked away at a far wall. "I don't know, I thought it was, like, accurate to the character but like, I don't know if people will get it. It might just be, like... Gross. I don't know."

Parker furrowed his brow as he listened to Jack speak, then reached out to take his shoulders. "Hey, what? It's not gross at all. I like your face being out. You know what's gross? Having makeup on for like, however many hours and having it slide off your face later that night."

"Yeah, I guess," Jack agreed half-heartedly. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, starting to feel self-conscious about his costume. "I mean, like... Do you think people will get it?"

Parker dropped his hands and tilted his head at Jack as he considered the question, then nodded. "I think so, yeah. If they watch the show, which, I'm pretty sure a lot of people do, right? At least someone will get it." He paused. "I wasn't talking about me, but that is at least one person." He nodded sagely.

Jack snickered as he wrapped his arms around Parker's waist. He dropped his head forward to rest on his boyfriend's and groaned. "Ugh. I hate personal growth."

Parker laughed and swayed back and forth. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, just like..." Jack shrugged. "It's so awkward. Like, one of two things is gonna happen if I don't wear the eyepatch. One, someone is gonna see my face and be like, 'ew', or two, someone like Brent is gonna see my face and be like, 'wow look at you, little buddy'. It's like... Terrible either way."

Parker couldn't help but laugh at Jack's comment about Brent. "Oh my God, that totally sounds like him. I'll tell Mace to kick his ass if he says anything." He shrugged, leaning back slightly to look at Jack once more. "I don't think anyone is gonna say ew or anything though. Like, literally everyone here is covered in scars, it's like... I dunno, there's your trainer dude who is legit covered in them and has one leg and nobody says anything beside that he's like, mega ripped and hot." He shrugged. "Like, you're probably the person that thinks about it the most, since you're the one who looks at it the most."

"I guess," Jack mumbled in response. He hadn't ever really thought about it that way. Jack knew that everyone else had battle scars but his just felt... Different. "Yeah, I guess," he repeated. "So... You think my trainer is mega ripped and hot?"

Parker smiled slightly, bobbing his head as Jack agreed with him, no matter how begrudgingly. He laughed at the question. "I mean, that's probably like his credentials for the job, right?" He moved a hand to rest on Jack's waist. "Not really my type though."

"Ugh." Jack squeezed Parker's waist. A smile grew on his face between his reddening cheeks. "I really like you."

"Shit, I hope so!" Parker laughed, leaning forward to rest his head against Jack's again. "I like you too," he said genuinely, not laughing anymore, but smiling. "Like, all of you." He looked up at him. "Was I supposed to dress up too?"

"Um, yeah," Jack responded, as if it should have been obvious. "And you have to go as something sexy so we can, like... Power couple it," he insisted. "Brent and Macey are way too confident, we need to give them a run for their money."

Parker laughed and shook his head. "Shit. I told Macey I wouldn't dress up as Shaggy for her. She's gonna kill me." He shrugged. "Okay, what's a sexy costume? Am I supposed to be like, one of those nurses?"

Jack snorted. "Um... You could do, like... Sexy Colonel Sanders?"

"Ew!" Parker laughed and shoved Jack's chest. "I'll go as a super hot chef, and you can change your costume to a rat."

"Oh my fucking gods!" Jack clutched his stomach and started wheezing with laughter. "Stop! No! Not that again!"

Parker laughed harder and turned his head away from Jack, shaking his head, annoyed at himself for making the joke. "Okay, yeah, we'll ignore the fact that I said that and I'll think of a hot costume."

"Sexy Linguine," Jack considered, still shaking with laughter. "Ugh. I hate that you'd probably pull it off."

Parker shook his head again. "Don't worry, I won't even try it." He ran a hand through his hair. "I’ll do, um... I don't know. Is it weird to go as a soccer player?"

Jack snorted. "That's so jock. But I guess it's not weird."

Parker rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, still smiling. “Anime guy and jock. Is that not the vibe we’re going for?”

"We sound like a crackship," Jack pointed out with a chuckle. "I mean, I guess we kind of are."

Parker nodded as if he knew what that meant. “Huh. Yeah.”

[royalbloodedbastards]

📱 kieran/parker, jack/parker

KIERAN

KIERAN & PARKER

What contact name my muse has for yours: 

Parker Valentine

What ringtone my muse has set for yours: 

The iPhone default

What contact photo my muse has set for yours: 

X

How quickly my muse responds to your texts: 

If Kieran is looking at his phone, immediately. If Kieran is watching a movie or out hiking, he will not respond until he is finished.

How often our muses text: 

Most days. Kieran will occasionally text Parker if they are in different rooms and Kieran can’t be bothered to get up. 

How often our muses call: 

Rarely, they live together. 

Does my muse purposefully miss calls from yours: 

Never

Last text sent from my muse to yours:

60 degrees next Friday, I’m going to Storm King. Leaving at 6am if you want to come.

JACK & PARKER

What contact name my muse has for yours:

Parker 🏐

What ringtone my muse has set for yours:

Boys by Charli XCX

What contact photo my muse has set for yours:

None

How quickly my muse responds to your texts:

Immediately

How often our muses text:

Jack seldom texts anybody. He probably only texts Parker when there’s an event of some kind and he wants to know if Parker will be there.

How often our muses call:

Jack tends toward the antisocial with phone conversations. He won’t call Parker unless they’re planning on meeting in person.

Does my muse purposefully miss calls from yours:

No

Last text sent from my muse to yours:

Can I follow u on Spotify? idk if it’s weirder to ask or weirder to just do it lol

[royalbloodedbastards]

chatzy // weed closet pj party

DATE: Friday, March 27, 2020 CHARACTERS: Chase, Jesse, Malia, Alec, Casey, Blue, L, Parker, Jack ABOUT: The Morpheus cabin hosts a PJ Party. Mammals smoke marijuana and Twister ends with a twist.

Chase made sure that all the lights were placed well and all the blanket walls were secure. He picked up a cat from the twister mat and flipped it onto its back so he could hold it like a baby. He unlocked the door and stood to the side, wondering if he should wait there and be a fake psychic that was standing there the whole time or step back so he wouldn’t be weird. He swayed a bit and then walked over to take his cookies from the oven.(edited)

Malia held her mug of hot chocolate in both her hands as she shooed Killer # 1 from pulling at the blanket fort. She followed Chase into the kitchen and smiled. "Any pronoun preference tonight? I don't want you to like, explain yourself if you don't want to."

Jesse was finishing washing the few dishes that had piled up over the day and didn't hear Malia's question to Chase between the sound of the water running and some vague daydreams. As he put the last plate on the drying rack, he turned around and absently pet Killer # 2 on the head, still in his own world.

Chase set the cat down on the counter, pulled the cookies from the oven, and then picked the cat up again as he turned the oven off. He grinned widely at Malia, heart full. “No, no preference. Thanks for asking. Say whatever feels right.” He leaned against the counter. “Did either of you want a cookie? They’re vegan and don’t have nuts, but they do have weed.” 

Malia considered it, then glanced at Jesse. "Want to split one?" 

Jesse tuned in to catch the last part of Chase's offer, once he realized he was being addressed. He smiled at Malia, shrugging one shoulder. "Sure, okay." 

“I’m actually gonna put a note on them to only take half, so y’all might wanna take a quarter.” 

"Oh shit, okay." Malia pulled off half a cookie and then held that half out for Jesse. 

Jesse took it from her. "Thanks. Who're you expecting to come?" he asked Chase. 

Alec let themself into the Morpheus cabin and wandered over to where the three were standing in the kitchen, looking around as they go. "Hey gang! Are there new sheets up in here? It looks swanky. Do those have weed in them?" 

Jack doubted his decision up until the moment he knocked on the door, but he was determined to push himself. "Let yourself blow, Jack," he whispered. After waiting half a minute and hearing voices from the inside, Jack decided to let himself in. "Is this..." The room was much emptier than he expected. "Oh my actual gods," he muttered. "Why am I always so fucking early."

Malia brightened at the sight of Alec and waved her quarter of the weed cookie at them. "Hey! Yes they do." She walked over to Alec to give them a quick cheek kiss and noticed Jack in her peripheral vision. "Hey! You came!" She walked over to him. "I gotta say I wasn't sure if you'd come." 

"Uh, yeah," Jack smiled. "Me neither, TBFH," he chuckled. "It smells like the inside of Martha Stewart's purse in here."

"Oh yeah, Chase made weed cookies." She held out her quarter for him. "Take this, I'll go get another piece for me." 

Chase shrugged. “Um, it was more of a general invite? Alec said they were co–“ As if summoned, they were there. “Hey!” Chase turned his attention to them. “Sure do! But don’t have any eggs, dairy, or nuts.” He turned to Jesse again. “Uh, I dunno who else. Blue, maybe?” 

"Uh," Jack took the quarter cookie in his hand, eyes wide. He hadn't been high before and had no idea this is how the night was going to go. But at the same time, the cooke did smell great... 

Malia noticed his hesitation. "You okay?" she asked. "Oh my gods, did I just peer pressure you? I totally did, didn't I? I'm sorry, you don't have to eat this." 

Jack laughed. "No, I mean, that's fine. I've just never... Done this before? I've always been curious but, like... Just have not." 

Alec beamed at Malia, then bounded over to Chase and Jesse. They scooped up a cookie and broke it in half. "Oh holy mackerel, awesome! You're the fucking best." As they happily chewed away at it, they started petting the cat in Chase's arms. "Can I hold him?" 

"Oh, okay." Jesse closed his eyes for a half second and exhaled when Alec came over, and then put on what he hoped was a polite smile.

"Ah." Malia tapped her lips. "Okay, eat like, half of that and check in with me in like, 20 minutes. We'll just pace you." 

"Okay," Jack brought the cookie up to take a bite. His first was cautious and amounted to nothing more than a nibble. Swallowing the crumb down, Jack thought to himself, It's already quartered, it's probably not that much, and ate the rest of the piece in one bite. "Ugh. Butter makes everything taste so good." 

Chase opened his mouth when Alec took the cookie and then closed it when they only took half. He smiled and held the cat out to drop into Alec’s arms. “I’m gonna go make a sign for the cookies. Can y’all stay here and make sure people don’t take more than half?” 

Casey pushed the Morpheus cabin door ajar and poked his head inside. "Knock, knock! It's your friendly neighborhood drug peddler—I mean girl scout!" Casey held his arm through the door, showing off two boxes of Girl Scout cookies in a little plastic bag.

Alec gave Chase two thumbs up and hopped up to sit on the counter beside the tray of cookies. "You got it! I'll guard them with my life." They hugged Killer # 2 close to their chest. "If anyone tries to take more I'll sic Killer here on them." Jesse looked between Chase and Alec, then rubbed his temple and nodded. 

Malia blinked as he watched the whole quarter go into Jack's mouth. "Or, you can do that, too." She laughed and sipped her hot chocolate, finding it finally warm enough to drink. "It'll be fun! Here, uh, I dunno if you know everyone here?" She walked back into the kitchen. "That's Chase," she said, kissing their cheek as she walked past. "And that's Alec, and that's Jesse." 

Alec waves at Casey from the kitchen with the arm they aren't using to hold Killer. 

Jack rubbed his hands together to get off the crumbs. "I don't know anyone," Jack half-laughed. He waved along as Malia pointed people out, being careful not to make contact. "Uh, hey. I'm Jack. Thanks for inviting me." 

"Oh my gods, kitty!" Casey launched into the room, setting the girl scout cookies on some surface along the way. "Hi kitty," he sang. "You're such a beautiful little mammal!" Casey smiled up at Alec. "And you're a beautiful mammal too, of course." 

Chase smiled at Malia and waved at Jack, then waved at Casey. “Hey Case!” He smiled at Jack. “Ah, Chase.” He shoved a thumb into his chest. “Make yourself at home. It’s real cosy here.” 

Jesse has only ever had one interaction with Jack before, and he isn't too keen to remember it. Still, he smiles at him– this is a better place to meet than on a frozen lake. "Uh, hi. I'm Jesse." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But Mal just said that, sorry." 

Alec held Killer out to Casey so he can pet him, and then they reach out a hand to pat the top of Casey's head too. "Aw! We should make a club. Founding three members right here. There's vegan weed cookies!" They wave at Jack as well. "Hi Jack!" 

Malia moved back into the kitchen to pick up another quarter of a cookie. She popped it into her mouth and kissed Jesse's cheek, too. She wanted to tell Jack that she also invited her brother, but wasn't sure how either person would take the news at the moment, so she refrained. "Should we put on some music?" 

Jack waved and smiled at all the greetings, not sure if he was supposed to respond or if everybody else had just convened before Jack arrived and agreed to be nice to the weird guy. "Uh, yeah. Let's put some music on please." 

Chase sprinted upstairs to grab a pen and paper and wrote “STRONG: TAKE HALF” on it so that people would get the message. He took a moment to rummage around his room and then ran back downstairs so that he could put the sign next to the cookies and hold allergy medication out to Alec. “Thought you might need this.” He leaned against the counter and looked around. He raised his eyebrows and pulled out his phone. “Does anyone have any requests?” He put on Toxic by Brittany Spears. 

"Oh my god," Casey crooned as he stroked the cat. "Cute mammals and vegan weed cookies," he repeated under his breath. His active listening turned off at first contact with the cat and the verbal response was just his way of saving the memory in case it came up again later. 

Jack narrowed his eyes at Chase when Toxic came on. He whispered to Malia, "Is Chase... Gay?" 

"Ooh, yes, put on—" But the music started playing before she could finish her sentence. Malia laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth. "What would make you think that?" she replied quietly, giggling again. 

"Two of the best parts of life," Alec replied cheerfully, breaking off a small piece of one of the cookies and popping it into their mouth. They almost spit it out in their excitement when Toxic comes on and they immediately hop off the counter. "Chase, I would die for you!" 

"Um, do you not hear and see what is happening in front of you?" Jack gestured vaguely in Chase's direction. "I mean, like, it's great. But..." Jack laughed. 

Jesse exhaled a laugh at Chase and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over the pastel pyjama shirt he's borrowing from his brother.

Malia laughed again. "Oh don't worry, I see it. Jack, I think me and Jesse are the only straight people at this party right now." 

Chase laughed at Alec and blew them a kiss before looking at Malia. “I can queue up a song that you want!” 

Jack looked around the room, brows furrowed. "Um... Since when?" If what Mal was saying was true, then Jack had to fight the urge not to kick himself for coming out to these events sooner. 

Alec picked up one of Killer's paws in each hands and made him dance along to the song with them.

Casey pulled a pen from his pocket and took a deep hit, watching Alec dance with Killer. "So debonair!"

Alec cracked up and let Killer jump down once he started to struggle. They sneezed three times in quick succession and picked up the allergy medication Chase had given to them a minute earlier. "That's what they call me!" @spexile

Malia laughed. "I mean... since always? But since we've all been aware? A few years." @spexile

"Oh my gods, are you allergic to the kitty?" Casey sat down to let the cat brush by him as he walked away. 

Jack widened his eyes and laughed. "Ugh. Of course. So are there, like, no straight boys at this camp at all because..." Jack's sentence trailed off as he remembered who he was talking to. 

"Nope!" Alec replied as they took one of the  pills. "I'm allergic to all kitties! And everything else with fur. Do horses have fur, or is it hair? Maybe I'm not allergic to horses. I haven't really tested it out, I think they're some creepy." 

Malia raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Chase took half of a cookie and nudged Jesse. “What’s up? You look like you’re leaving your body.”

"Huh?" Jesse blinked a few times and turned to Chase, breaking into a smile. "Sorry, zoning out. Everyone looks really nice, yeah? Especially for a pajama party." He ran a hand through his hair, watching Malia as he said this. @caitlin

"Oh my gods," Casey gasped, pushing Killer away. "That's so tragic, I'm so sorry for your loss. I mean, I don't have any cats or pets or anything, but I love being a pet uncle." 

Chase smiled and leaned against the counter. “Yeah, not everyone just wears sweatpants to bed.” He looked at Malia as well. “I really like her robe.” 

"Nothing!" Jack quickly covered up. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something to change topics to, but he came up short. "So, pajamas..." 

"It's horrible," Alec sighed dramatically, their expression giving away how much they were exaggerating their distress. By the time Killer was out of sight, a grin had spread back across their face and they waved their hand. "I used to work in a pet store, I can handle a couple cats." 

Malia gave him a knowing smirk. "Were you going to say something about my brother?" 

"What? Why!" Casey laughed. "That's so masochistic of you but also feels so correct for your vibe and I love that for you." 

"Um, what?" Jack turned red, unable to help the smile forming on his face. "I have no idea what you're talking about, shut up." 

Chase sings along to Womanizer under his breath.

Chase also looked around. “Uh, if we don’t all want to stand, we can move to the couches?” 

"Working around animals all the time's a dream come true, eh? But they fired me after four days." Alec laughed. "'Cause I was allergic to everything in the store except the fish." They turned to Chase. "I love couches, let's go!" 

"Okay, I'm pretty sure you'd be super obvious to anyone, but I literally have a superpower about this stuff so don't play dumb."

"Oh my gods, you're incredible," Casey laughed, getting up to join everyone on the couches. "I want the side seat!" 

"Ugh." Jack flushed. "Wait, what do you mean you have a superpower?" 

Chase grabbed the tray of cookies to take with him so that the cats wouldn’t be able to get at them while he wasn’t looking. “Case, I put up the shamrock stained glass.” He smiled and pointed it out to him as they sat down. 

Malia shrugged and finished her hot chocolate. "I have a superpower. I like, know who everyone likes, who everyone is fucking. All that good stuff. I used to think I was just really observant? But I'm pretty sure it's because of my mom. Oh my gods, but my brothers don't have it, before you like explode with embarrassment. Parker is so clueless and if Kieran did have the same thing I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care enough to do anything about it." 

Casey gasped. "Oh my gods!" He went up to the glass to admire the details. "Oh my gods, wait, Chase, now that I'm not drunk, this is actually so good!" 

Jesse waited for Chase to leave the kitchen before he followed. He paused to smile and shake his head at the twister mat in the middle of the room before taking a seat on one of the couches.  

Alec veered away from the couches to go over to the glass as well. "Aw, shit, it is really good!" They looked over their shoulder to smile at Chase. "You have a new calling!" 

"Wait, so, like... Can you tell if someone, like..." Jack didn't know how to phrase the question without sounding pathetic. "What do you think you sense with me and your brother, then?" 

Chase set down the cookies and then turned to lean over the back of the couch to look at where his art was hanging near the window. “Aw, guys, you’ll make me blush!” He nodded sagely. “Drunk art is a talent of mine.” 

L knocked at the door and smiled at Blue and Parker. “This was a good idea for a party!” Parker shrugged. 

Malia hummed and turned toward the sink to start washing her mug. She had a huge grin on her face. "Well, I don't think you need a superpower to tell?" She glanced at Jack. "Let's just say there's a reason I left you two alone on St. Patrick's day."

Jesse got back up from the couch to get the door when the knock came. He opened the door and looked at Parker, then Blue, then L. "Oh, hey. Come in." 

Blue nodded, taking L's hand in hers. She slapped Parker lightly on the back. "It is! I don't know why Parker is being so grumpy about it." When Jesse opened the door, she grinned at him. "Sup." She pushed Parker in ahead of her and followed after him. 

L stepped in and gave Jesse a hug in greeting. “Hi! I hope we’re not too late!” She pulled away and took Blue’s hand again. Parker sighed and stepped in. “I’m not grumpy, I just don’t see the point in buying clothes specifically to sleep in.” He smiled awkwardly and looked at Jesse. “Um, hi.” 

Jesse nodded at Blue and gave L a one-armed hug back before stepping away to give them room to enter. "No, no, not at all." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled back at Parker. "Hey," he repeated. "What's up?" 

Jack's sheepish grin fell off very quickly as Parker, L, and Blue all walked into the cabin. Breathing deeply, Jack pressed his lips together. After the jacuzzis he had mentally prepared himself for a moment like this, but now in person, his heart and brain still felt like they were operating miles apart. 

Blue wandered into the living room and, of course, Jack was there. She immediately Did Not look at him and instead put her focus on Casey. She rushed over to him. "Fuck yes, we look so good!" 

"Oh my god, trash babies!" Casey squealed and ran over to celebrate with Blue. "What is this recurring mammal theme tonight?" He turned to Alec and called out, "Watch out, we've got some allergens coming through!" 

L followed after Blue and waved goodbye to Jesse. “Oh, Alec, do you need any antihistamines? I don’t have any on me but it’s probably not a far run to my cabin.” She teased. 

His reaction was not quite what she expected, but looking at what he was staring at told her why. She took a deep breath and dried off her hands quickly. "Want me to go get Parker?"

Alec moved to sit on the back of the couch and pretended they were trying to lean even further away from Casey and Blue. "No! Keep them away! Also you guys are cute as all hell, aw." They shook their head at L. "I'm good, I'm good! Chase got me some already." 

Parker shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Um, nothing. Cool idea for a party.” He hoped Jesse hadn’t heard him bitching about it to Blue a moment ago. 

"Oh, yeah, it was Chase's." Jesse cleared his throat and glanced back at the couches. "Yeah."

"Um, no, I mean, he can live his life. it's cool." Jack tried to sound casual but wasn't convinced that he did. 

Blue gasped, clutching Casey as if in need of support to stand. "You're allergic, to mammals?" 

“Oh.” Parker frowned but didn’t know how to retract his statement without sounding like a hypocrite. “Um, Mal said she was here?” 

Jesse relaxed. "Yeah, yeah, just over there. Talking to Jack." 

"I know, right?" Casey confirmed. "It pains my heart and I'm not even involved." Casey shook his head piteously toward Alec.

"I am," Alec responded mournfully. "Like, all of them. Wait." They scrunched their eyebrows together. "Not humans. Humans are mammals? Yes." 

Parker felt the blood drain from his face. He looked over at Jack and made sure that was far away from where Blue was. “Um, did your brother choose the guest list?” 

"I guess?" Jesse shrugged– he's not sure what Parker's really asking, and he has no desire to find out. "I think it was open invite, kind of." 

Malia watched Jack carefully, then checked the time on her phone. "Well, okay, that edible is probably going to hit you in a hot sec. We can just chill in here for now?"

L nodded. “Humans are mammals because we make milk! I’m pretty sure you’re just allergic to, like, fur an dander though. But, actually, going back to the milk thing...” she squinted. “I guess you are... allergic to all mammals.” 

"That was a gross sentence!" Alec said to L, brightly.Casey fiddled with the ears of his onesie. "Dude... That's so rough," he laughed. 

Blue laughed and kissed her girlfriend's head. "You're so fucking cute." She turned back to Casey. "So, I was told there was weed? Where's that?" Jack nodded. "Uh yeah. I mean," Jack looked for a place to sit on the floor. "How do I know when it happens?"

“Ugh, okay.” He frowned again and looked at the two groups of people, and then made his way over to Jack and Malia when he made his decision. “Hey. Hi.” He smiled at them a bit. 

"Oh, you'll know." She looked to Parker when he walked over and smiled. "You came! Hi." 

L laughed. “I know! I regretted it as it was coming out of my mouth!” She smiled at Blue and tugged at one of her raccoon ears. “Says you in this.” 

Jack smiled at Parker as he walked over. "Hey!" Jack noticed that the question he had just posed Malia was echoing now in his brain. How do I know when it happens? 

Parker took a seat near Jack. “Hey,” he repeated and shrugged at Malia. “Yeah, Blue invited me.” 

"That's cool," Jack mentioned a little too quickly. "Mal invited me." Jack felt a tingle slowly rise up his spine and a smile started forming on his face. "Yeah," he chuckled. 

"And so did I! Jerk." She crouched down so she could look at the both of them more easily, smiling despite the weirdness between her and her brother right now. She watched Jack's smile slowly travel across his face and then looked back to Parker. "I was just telling Jack that he might start to feel this edible soon. He took a quarter of one so it should be fine, though." 

"Ah, c'est la vie," Alec responded to Casey (on time) and stroked an imaginary beard to give the impression of wisdom. "You can quote me on that." 

Blue giggled and pressed her mouth to L's neck briefly. She came back upright and slung her arm across her girlfriend's shoulders. "Very wise," she said to Alec. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before." 

Casey scampered away from Blue and L to give them space, taking a seat beside Alec on the couch instead. "Is this distance okay? You'll let me know if you get allergic to me?" 

“Oh. Yeah.” Parker flushed. He’d mentioned Blue inviting him to get at Malia and hadn’t even thought of Jack in the moment. He frowned at her. “You gave him an edible?” He tried not to sound too judgemental. 

"Thanks! I should put it on a t-shirt." Alec grinned at Blue. They slung an arm around Casey's shoulder and leaned against him. "I'll let you know by sneezing on you, does that work?" 

Jack shrugged. "I took it, she didn't peer pressure me." With each wave of static rising up his back, Jack felt his smile grow wider and wider. "This is... Great." He laughed. 

Malia sighed. "I gave him a quarter of an edible, and told him to eat half of that to take it slow. Jack," she smiled at him, more teasing this time, "decided to eat the whole thing. But I promise, it's fine. You look very chill, Jack." 

"Yes, that's wonderful, right into my hand." Casey cupped a hand under Alec's chin, pinching their nose twice in the process. 

"Ugh, shut up, I literally look the same." Jack grinned goofily. 

L blushed and nodded at Alec, though she hadn’t really been paying attention to what they were saying. She took a seat on the couch. “Were you asking about something, babe?” 

Parker squinted and then hummed in acknowledgement at Malia and then looked back at Jack, and then at the floor. “You do. I’m actually surprised you’re not wearing a power ranger’s suit, since it’s a pajama party.” 

Alec scrunched their nose up after Casey pinched it and shook their head like a wet dog. "Gross!" they laughed. "Is there enough like, DNA in that to clone me if I do? I feel like I talk about cloning a lot. Maybe I just talk about everything a lot." 

"Um, you told me that we were never gonna talk about that again." Jack pointed at the ground in front of Parker. 

Malia tucked her hair behind her ear and stood. "I'm gonna go say hi to everyone else. I like, barely spoke to Alec since they got here." She winked at Jack and then lightly squeezed Parker's shoulder, even though he wasn't looking at her. She walked away from them and wandered over to Jesse, grabbing his hand as she moved to his side. "Hey."

"Yes you do, but so do I." Casey leaned into Alec's embrace and kicked his feet up onto the couch. He pulled his pen out of his pocket and took another hit before holding it out to Alec. "Do you want some of this? It's CBD." 

Jesse had been caught between heading back to the kitchen or sitting by Chase on the couch, so he relaxed when Malia approached and gave him something to do besides examining the shamrock stained glass. "Hey," he replied, squeezing her hand with a smile and turning to face her fully. 

Parker laughed and ducked his head. He looked back at Malia, smiling a bit as she walked over to Jesse, then shook his head at Jack. “No, no. I promise, my lips are sealed. It was just too perfect to not bring up right now.” 

Blue dropped onto the couch and pulled L a little closer to her. "Oh, I was gonna ask about the edibles, but I think they're in the kitchen and uh, someone is in there." She looked around, frowning when she didn't see Parker. "I don't want to make it weird so I'll just— Oh! Casey," she rolled her head over so she was looking at him, now. "Can I have some too? Pleaaaaase?" 

"Okay, but actually," Jack leaned it. "If I got like, not a morphsuit, but a headless one? Like a turtleneck with gloves? Would that be weird? Because I feel like it could be like, a thing?" Jack cackled. "Oh my gods. Wow. No sorry, I heard it as I was saying it." 

Alec was beginning to feel the edible kick in. "Yell heah," they sighed happily and took the pen, settling against Casey more. "You are an angel and also so comfortable I never want to move again. But hat could also be the, uh," they waved a hand around. "–decor? Yeah, the decor speaking. It's so cozy in here!" Alec passed the pen to Blue. 

Chase blinked out of his momentary suspended animation and looked at the people around him on the couch. “Oh, uh, Blue, the edibles are here.” He smiled and pointed at the coffee table. “Didn’t want the cats to be able to get at them.” He blinked again. “Also, hi!”

Malia could feel the edible hitting her slowly, and she smiled up at Jesse easily. "I," she said a little smugly, "stopped a potential disaster. Jack is safe and stoned in the kitchen." 

L nodded approvingly at Chase not wanting the cats to consume drugs. She backtracked when she thought of who she might have seen in the kitchen. “Ah, good idea.” 

"Yeah, Blue, just take it," Casey waved a hand nonchalantly. "Um, don't take my comfiness away and credit it to inanimate objects! I'd like full recognition for everything you're feeling right now, thank you." Casey pulled his feet onto Alec's lap and nuzzled his raccoon hooded head into Alec's neck. "If they're gonna be cute on that side of the couch, then so are we!" 

Parker tilted his head to the side, a smile spreading across his face. “No, no, please let me hear about this thing.” 

"Oh shit, I'm blind," she said, laughing. "Okay wait, I don't want your pen." She grabbed a half of a cookie and started to eat, then snuggled back into L's side. "It is a good idea. I have a lot of them, surprisingly."

Jesse didn't bother glancing at the kitchen to check, too busy smiling at Malia. He rested his free hand on the side of her arm. "I guess that makes you the resident peacekeeper." 

Chase picked up the nearest cat since everyone seemed to be pairing off. He looked at Casey and then at Blue. “Are you guys matching on purpose, or was this a coincidence?” 

"Ugh!" Jack cackled again. He wasn't sure if he could feel his face turning red or if that was just the high. "I was thinking like it'll be like a turtleneck but with the morphsuit hands. And I could just wear it under what I normally wear and it would just look like gloves, but then I could like, poke your face or hold your hand or something stupid like that, blah, blah. Ugh," Jack pulled his face down with his hands, half laughing, half whining. "What am I right now?" 

Alec wrapped both of their arms around Casey fully now. "I take it back! You can have 110% of the credit." They rubbed their cheek against the top of his head. "You're saying we're not always cute? I'm betrayed!" 

L moved so she could put her arm around Blue. “That’s not surprising! You had the idea about the solar panels!” 

"Literally just a coincidence, I don't even know this woman," Casey called out to Chase, scowling at Blue. "And nooo, we are! Sh, shh." Casey gave Alec a reassuring stroke on the back of their head. 

"Oh shit, you're right!" Blue laughed as she swallowed the rest of the edible. At Chase's question, she leaned over and flicked Casey's head. "Don't lie because I look better than you!" 

Malia flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, me? What an honor! Glad to be of service." She leaned a little closer to him as she laughed, lifting her hand to pull at his shirt. She thought better of it at the last second and lowered it again. "Everyone is on the couch, should we like, actually use the blanket fort?" 

Parker felt his chest swell and pressed his face into the cupboard next to him to try to cool his cheeks down at least slightly. He pressed his palm into his mouth to keep from smiling too much and to keep down a small, strangled sound at how cute Jack was. He covered it up as a cough and nodded at Jack, face still against the cupboard. “Wanna hear something lame?” 

Alec flopped backwards when Blue leaned over so they were half twisted and lying over the arm of the couch now, still somewhat entangled with Casey. "I hate it when you fight!" they said with a laugh to the two of them. "Not in front of the children!"

Jack sighed, smiling at Parker. "Please. Let me be the not lame one for like, two seconds," he laughed.

Chase laughed and put his hands up. “Woah, woah, calm down everyone, didn’t mean to start anything. This is actually a zero violence household, so I’m gonna have to ask y’all to cool it, you both look great in your fursuits.” 

"Aye!" Casey flinched in exaggerated offense when Blue flicked him. "Don't you flick me!" Casey swatted Blue away, his other hand grabbing Alec's shoulder to keep himself steady. "I'm the good parent!" Casey protested to Alec and Chase. "She literally started it." 

L pressed her hands to her cheeks and fake-sobbed. 

Parker spoke quickly so he couldn’t stop himself. “I brought plastic gloves with me from work so that maybe we could hold hands on Saint Patrick’s day, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.” He leaned back on his hands. 

"Sure." Before letting go of Malia's hand so they could move, Jesse ducked his head to lean closer to her so he could still be heard. "You really look amazing tonight." 

Jack closed his eyes. His body was frozen still, but a huge smile grew on his face. "Wait... Are you... Being serious?" 

Alec pretended to wipe tears away. "This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with raccoon fisticuffs on a chesterfield." 

“Ugh.” The cabinet wasn’t even cool anymore. Parker sighed. “Yeah.” 

“Yeah, and I’m finishing it.” Chase did his best to sound serious and not to laugh, but utterly failed when Alec spoke. “Not with a bang, but with the most Canadian sentence I’ve ever heard in my life.” 

"Yo, I have no fuckin clue what you just said, but yes." Blue turned a exaggeratedly mean face to Casey. "You're going down, Casey." 

Casey threw his head back laughing at Alec's lament and wrapped his arms around Alec's shoulders again. "Raccoons are very vicious, I can't help it. We fight to the death, we eat trash, and we loan out money for desert island real estate." Casey stuck a tongue out at Blue. "Try me, Nook." 

"Do not insult me like that! Nook? The evil capitalist scum? You're really dead for that." She disentangled from L just to get close enough to flick Casey between the eyes, then moved back to her spot. "Try me again." 

Jack felt like simultaneously melting and fizzing up like a bottle rocket. "You don't like..." He drew a circle on the floor between them with his finger. "Have them right now... Do you?" 

Malia's face uncharacteristically flushed, and she turned her head a bit into his so the rest of the room wouldn't see. "So do you, and I mean it. You look sexy in stripes." 

Casey gasped and sat frozen, mouth agape. "You just—Chase!" Casey turned his head toward Chase and yelled out. "Blue is bullying me again!" 

"You brought that on yourself!" Blue shouted back, trying to hold in a laugh and keep up the bit. 

Parker had never regretted not taking plastic gloves with him to a party more. In all honesty, he considered it, coming to the Morpheus cabin. He pulled his face from the cupboard and buried it in his hands. “No. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Alec lifted their head more to look at L past the ruckus on the couch. "Did you know koalas have smooth brains?" 

Chase tutted and wagged a finger at Blue. “Hey, hey. What did I just say? Raccoon or not, you gotta keep your paws off each other.” 

L tilted her head at Alec. “What does that mean?” 

Jesse touched her cheek , then remembered where they were and dropped his hand. His ears were warm, and the flush was quickly spreading to his cheeks. "Should we sit down?" 

"Their brains are smooth," Alec repeated to clarify. 

“What does that mean!” L laughed.

Jack pressed his hands into his face then laughed and shook them away. "That's okay! I'm like—I feel so good right now and I'm just really happy that you're here." Jack scooted closer and touched his index finger to Parker's knee. 

Casey stuck out his tongue at Blue again, but he was smiling. He gave Alec's shoulder a squeeze before standing up and walking over to Chase. "Hey! Are we gonna play Twister?" 

Malia glanced around the room. "I think I actually left something upstairs," she said quietly, brushing her hand lightly over his chest. "I should go get it now before a game starts or something."

Parker smiled so hard that his cheeks hurt. He touched Jack’s knee, careful not to make contact with his skin. “Me too.”

Alec held their hands out until Casey was fully out of reach, at which point they wrapped their arms around themself instead and turned their attention back to L. "You know how our brains are wrinkly, like coral? Koalas don't have wrinkles, their brains are right smooth! That's why they're bad at crosswords."

Chase tilted his head and then perked up a bit. “We should!” He stood and looked around. “Does everyone wanna play Twister?” He addressed the party. 

Jesse didn't get the chance to agree before Chase spoke. He closed his eyes for a moment, then laughed and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Spoke too soon, I guess."

Jack savored the moment for only a second before hearing Chase's announcement. He dropped his head and laughed. "Ugh. Of course it's Twister." He smirked up at Parker. "That's like, a total disaster if I play, right?" 

Malia's eyes closed in frustration. "Okay, well, maybe we can go get it later?" she asked him quietly. 

L tilted her head, blinked, and then laughed. “Are you serious? About the smoothness, not about the crosswords.” 

"Twister!" Casey yelled in repetition, throwing his arms up in the air. 

"Fuck yes, Twister!" Blue clapped. 

Jesse tucked a piece of hair behind Malia's ear and gave her a half-smile. "Of course." 

Parker exhaled a laugh and shrugged. “I bet you could do really well, actually.” He shook his head. “Ugh, nevermind, I didn’t say that.” 

Chase picked up the spinner and put it on the floor. “Okay, so, either if someone doesn’t want to play or if someone’s closest, they can spin the wheel for everyone else?” 

"Deadly serious!" Alec exclaimed. Without sitting up they slowly slid off the couch, head first, so they could lie on the ground by the twister mat. "Sounds good, Chase!" 

Jack laughed and rose to his feet. He pulled the sleeves of his sweaters down past his fingers and held his covered hands out to help Parker up. 

It was physically painful to rejoin the party and sit at the Twister mat, but Malia managed, somehow. She pulled Jesse along with her so they were sitting beside each other. 

Casey bounded across the floor to sit beside the mat. "Has anyone ever played this in underwear covered in oil?" He asked nobody in particular. 

"Only you, weirdo," Blue said as she moved, pulling L along with her. "But that does sound fun." 

"I've played it in a swimsuit covered in oil, does that count?" Alec asked, sitting up so there was more room. 

“That’s very Greek.” L nodded as she followed after Blue. 

"Um, I've never done it," Casey clarified. "I just think it sounds fun! Did you have a good time?" he asked Alec. 

Jesse followed Malia easily and nodded his head towards the blanket fort before he sat. "Want a pillow?"

Parker took Jack’s hands through his sleeves despite not needing any help up. He stood there for a moment, the  dropped his hands, heart pounding in his chest. “Um, were you gonna be spinner?” 

"It was crazy hard, but fun!" Alec moved to sit up on their knees. "We did it on the beach with way too much spray on sunscreen. Slip-sliding everywhere." 

"Uh, I guess." Jack's heart sank a little bit. A naive part of him was hoping he'd be able to play, but he wasn't sure how. "Do you think—" Jack turned to Parker. "If they have gloves, maybe I could play? I could just, like... Wear a scarf and gloves?" 

"Oh," Malia didn't want to be not at his side for ever a few seconds. But, her ass would start to hurt, sitting here, so she nodded. "Sure, yes, thank you." 

Parker blinked and then nodded quickly. “Uh, yeah, I don’t see why not!” He looked around. “Do you want me to ask?” 

"Oh my gods, sunscreen, that's genius!" Casey clapped his hands in recognition. "I bet tanning oil would work too. Except for the radiation but whatever, beauty is pain, right?" 

"Yeah, please. I like, just officially met half the people here and I'm afraid I won't remember their names," Jack laughed. 

Chase crouched to pick a cat off the mat again. “Should I change?” He asked Malia and Jesse, since they seemed least likely to make fun of him and most likely to tell him the truth. 

"Well," Malia looked over to Chase. "I love the shorts, but if you're in a compromising position it might be... a bit of a show, for us?" She giggled. "Up to you." 

Jesse disappeared into the blanket fort and came back out with a pillow in time to hear Chase's question. He glanced between Chase's shorts and the twister mat. "Maybe, yeah, you might want to." He held out the pillow for Malia, then sat down next to her.  

Parker smiled and reached out to touch Jack’s sleeve again. “Cool, I know...” He looked between Chase and Jesse and frowned. “I can ask Jesse.” He dropped his hand and walked over to Jesse and Malia as Chase left, figuring Jack would follow. 

Chase bobbed his head and scampered up the stairs.

Alec laughed and leaned against Casey again. "But the tanning oil would rub off some places and stay on the other! Your skin would look right fucked up." 

Jack followed Parker. The sensation of walking was very interesting to say the least. Jack found his mind drifting to several different places in the short span of distance between where they were sitting and where Jesse stood. Casey put an arm around Alec. "Okay, good point, good point. So then maybe the beauty is in the fun and laughter you share with your friends and then you just wear long sleeves the next day!" 

Blue was leaning on her hands, her eyes mostly closed and lazily leaning in and out, lightly pecking L's lips every time she was close to their face. She wasn't paying attention to the rest of the room. "What did you learn about koalas?" she asked.

Jesse blinked when Parker came over and looked to Malia, remembering now something about a fight between them. He assumed Parker had come to speak to his sister, so he waited for one of them to speak with hopes that it wouldn't turn into an argument.

Malia accepted the pillow from Jesse and moved so they were practically touching while sitting next to each other. She looked up at her brother from her place on the floor and gave him a little smile. "What's up?" 

“Um.” Parker cleared his throat and looked at Jesse mainly. “Do you have, like, gloves and scarves and stuff?” 

Alec smushed their face into Casey's shoulder. "You're a genius. We could do that in my loft! Except I don't have tanning oil or money to buy it. I have vegetable oil?" 

L was in and out of conversations. She smiled. “They have smooth brains! No wrinkles, and can’t solves puzzles because of it.” She nodded a bit, then looked at Casey and Alec. “If vegetable oil comes from vegetables and olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?” 

Jesse rested one hand on the ground behind Malia so that even though his arm wasn't around her, there was still a semblance of it. He drew his eyebrows together. "Winter clothes? Uh, yeah, some. Why?"

"Vegetable oil is probably so bad for your pores but maybe, like, olive oil? Is that expensive?" Casey laughed. "Or bubble bath! Oh my gods, this Twister idea is getting steamier and steamier."

Blue laughed at L's joke, resting her head on her shoulder. She glanced around the room finally, not sure how much time had passed since she sat down. She saw Jack standing in the middle of the living room and stared maybe a little too long, then turned her head in the opposite direction, staring at the floor.

Parker shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Because Jack wants to play Twister?” 

Jack smiled and waved awkwardly at Jesse from past Parker. "I'm a freak, I'm sorry." 

"Oooooooh," Malia turned to look at Jesse. "Do you have rubber gloves? They might have more traction than fabric." 

Alec laughed at L. "Olive oil is so expensive," they lamented to Casey. "But I have bubble bath! Oh! Oh! I have bath oil. Or, Ime did, but they left it behind so it's fair game!"

Jesse fully noticed Jack behind Parker now. "Oh. Right." He realized how that sounded and flushed again. "Yeah, yes, we have rubber gloves in the kitchen. And you said a scarf, too? I can grab that."

L tucked a piece of hair behind Blue’s ear when Jack walked into the room and cuddled up next to her more. “Are we waiting for Chase to get back?” 

"Wow, this is like, the most intimate game of Twister I've ever heard of and I am so in." Casey squeezed Alec's shoulder. "I'll bring the scented candles and red wine."

"Cool," Jack nodded at Jesse. "Good thinking with the rubber," Jack mentioned to Malia. 

Parker nodded and resisted the urge to take Jack’s sleeve again. “Thanks.” He felt weird being the only people in the room standing and took a seat next to Malia. “Hey, what’s up?” 

"I'll get the gloves?" Malia offered to Jesse, then turned to Parker with a smile. She wasn't sure if Chase would want to sit there, but her brother was talking to her so she didn't say anything about it. "I'm great, how are you? Actually, hang on, let me go get the gloves." 

"That'd be great," Jesse replied to Malia. He smiled at Jack but was careful to keep a decent bit of distance between them as he got up and moved past to go get a scarf from the closet behind the door. 

Alec heaved a sigh and pressed the back of their hand to their forehead. "You can't say things like that and not expect me to fall head over heels in love with you!"

Jack glanced around the room while waiting for the scarf and gloves. For a moment, his eyes found Blue and he pressed his lips together in a terse smile before quickly looking elsewhere. 

Malia stood and walked over the mat and into the kitchen. She found the gloves in the cabinet underneath the sink and brought them back to Jack with a smile. "How are you feeling?" 

Parker opened his mouth to speak to Malia and then closed it again. He folded his hands in his lap and pretended not to notice Blue. 

Jack's attention fell back to Malia and he smiled, taking the gloves. "Honestly, so good. Like... Great." He pulled the rubber gloves on with a loud snap. 

Blue didn't know what to make of that facial expression, but she was more focused on Parker sitting next to him, clearly with him. She turned her head back to L. "He just gave me the weirdest smile ever? What the hell?" 

L frowned and tilted her head “Maybe that’s how he smiles?” 

Jesse returned with two scarves, one large and one small. "Uh. I didn't know if you wanted a big one or not." He held them out, carefully. 

Malia nodded, briefly squeezing his hand once the gloves were on. "Great." She returned to her spot at Parker's other side and bumped shoulders with him. "Okay, hi, I'm good. How are you?" 

"Uh," Jack opted for the smaller one. "This is probably good. So it doesn't, like, drag or anything. Thanks." He wrapped the scarf around his neck, tucking the excess into his sweater. He sat down beside Parker, his face wrapped in a hand-knit neck brace. "This is great." 

Parker moved his hand to the space between himself and Jack and looked at the Twister mat. He shrugged at Malia. “Um, I’m fine.” 

Casey let his head rest on Alec's and brought up the hand that was wrapped around Alec's shoulder to cradle their face. "Fall in love with me, baby. That's all I've ever wanted." 

Jesse nodded at Jack and wrapped the end of the other scarf around his wrist absentmindedly. "Should I check if Chase remembers the game?" he asked Malia. 

Malia was debating trying to press for more conversation from her brother when Jesse spoke to her. "Oh, yeah," she frowned. "He's been gone for a while?" 

Jack's gaze fell to Parker's hand. He shifted his weight to sit more comfortably before letting his hand settle beside Parker's, so their pinky fingers stacked. 

"Hmph," Blue sighed, looking ahead and not at Parker again. "Maybe." 

Alec could feel a blush spread across their face despite themself and they grinned at Casey. "I see now! You orchestrated this whole thing to seduce me! Keep going, it's working– flattery is accepted 24/7 in this town. By 'this town' I mean my brain." 

Jesse shrugged one shoulder, but he glanced at the staircase. "He might've fallen asleep. I'll go check." 

Malia's frown deepened. "Fallen asleep?" 

Casey laughed. "Yes, good, then my plan is working beautifully." He let his hand move up to the side of Alec's head, gently scratching his hair. Casey suddenly remembered that he had brought cookies, but couldn't recall where had placed them. He pouted slightly as he wracked his brain for the memory. 

Jesse glanced at Parker and Jack before deciding how much to say. “Yeah. He hasn’t been sleeping well. I’ll be right back.” 

Malia nodded as Jesse walked away. She knew Chase hadn't been sleeping well but it was concerning to realize that he was this tired. She eyed the mat, brow furrowed in thought.

Parker stifled a smile at touching Jack’s hand and moved so the tips of his other fingers touched Jack’s. He tried to make it so that the line of sight between Blue and his hand was blocked and acted Fully Natural. He looked at Malia and tilted his head at her. “Are you okay?” 

L frowned a bit at the mat and extended her legs in front of her. “Have you guys played Twister with paint? It’s awful.” She smiled. 

“I’m high as all hell right now,” Alec sighed happily, feeling as though Casey was slowly pulling their soul from their body through their hair. “L! That sounds like a dream come true.” 

Jesse headed upstairs and knocked on the wall beside Chase’s door, even though the door was ajar. “You okay in there?” 

Jack relished in the sensation of having Parker's hand on his, as strange as the method was. Both physically and mentally, he was buzzing. 

Chase was curled up on his carpet, pajama pants cuddled to his chest when Jesse knocked on the door. He sat up with a start and looked down at himself, shook his head, and sighed. He pulled the pants on and ran over to the door. “Ha, yeah, sorry.” He smiled and started back towards the stairs. 

Casey laughed at Alec's declaration. He didn't have as much of a head high as he figured everyone else did, but the sensation of playing with Alec's hair was really satisfying multiplied with the CBD tingle. "Oh my god, wait, paint twister actually sounds so fun. Or like pigment powder twister, like they do in Holi?" 

Malia looked over and Parker and smiled. "All good." 

Jesse put an arm out to stop Chase before he reached the staircase. He was going to say something about how Chase didn’t have to go back down, or how he could stay with him upstairs if he wanted, but neither seemed quite right. He sighed and patted Chase’s shoulder instead. “Want me to make some coffee to get you through the party?” 

Parker wanted to take Jack’s hand fully, but was somewhere between not brave enough and not stupid enough to do so in front of Blue. He frowned slightly at Malia. “Okay.” 

Blue was trying very hard to ignore Parker sitting next to Jack but was only halfway succeeding. She turned to L and raised an eyebrow. "With paint? That sounds terrible, I kinda love it." 

L bobbed her head at her friends. “It’s super messy, but I think it’d be fun. I’ve never done it, by the way.” She tilted her head at Casey. “Is that a thing? Do people end up inhaling it?” 

“Pigment powder. I love the alliteration. And that sounds amazing! But less slippery than paint? So lower stakes.” Alec looked around at everyone. “All of the hosts have fled the circle. Oh, hey Parker!” They waved at him considering he was the only one they had yet to greet. 

Chase stopped and frowned slightly, then shook his head. “Nah, man, I can make it though a party.” He exhaled a laugh as though this was obvious and started down the stairs. “Were y’all waitin’ for me?” He asked once he was down. “Y’should’ve started!” 

"Oh good points," Casey conceded. "Okay, yeah, paint is probably better. And if the colors are all good, probably more aesthetic too?" Casey followed Alec's focus and waved at Parker and Jack. 

Parker looked somewhat less than pleased to have Alec bringing attention to him and flushed, glad Jack wouldn’t feel how sweaty his hand was. He coughed. “Um, hey.” 

L nodded. “I think I wouldn’t do all the colours on the board! Because then you’d just get brown, right? I’d pick nice pastels or something.” She looked over at Parker when Alec and Casey waved, but thought she probably shouldn’t wave. 

“How’s it going?” Alec asked Parker since it was clear Parker didn’t want a conversation. They laughed at Chase when he returned. “Howdy,” they replied in a poor imitation of his accent. “Yeah, w’all were waitin’!” 

Jesse returned to his seat beside Malia, watching Chase carefully. 

"Yeah, that's a good point. Wow, look at you, Apollo kid over here with the color consciousness," Casey snapped for L with his free hand. 

Malia bumped Jesse's shoulder with her own and waved at Chase. "We were! Ready to start?" 

Blue is pointedly not looking at Parker. "Who's spinning?" she asked the group. 

"Well, we probably can't all play at the same time right? Maybe we could do teams and spin for our teammates," Casey suggested. 

“Um, I’m fine.” Parker’s fingertips started to tingle, but he brushed it off as anxiety. “I hear you’re well? High as a kite, was it?” 

"Ooooh, good idea." Blue nods. "Okay...." she scans the room. "Teams of three?"

"Close enough," Alec replied cheerfully. "I'm glad you pay attention!" They counted the number of people in room, then nodded. "So like, teams of three where one person spins and the other two duel to the death?" 

Chase shook his head and mussed up Alec’s hair as he passed them to take a seat next to Jesse. “Sorry! Killer was bein’ real cute.” He looked around and bobbed his head. “That sounds like a good idea.” 

"Don't even joke about death matches, Alec, because I will make it happen," Casey replied seriously. 

L looked around. “Should the teams be random?” She suddenly felt like that could turn out terribly. “No!” She replied to herself. “I wanna be on Blue’s team!” 

Also she was totally like “omg Casey I AM a color conscious Apollo kid!!!” on time

Blue laughed and pulled L closer. "Okay! And..... Chase, come join us!" 

"In.... in Twister? How would that even work?" Alec glanced around the circle again. Their eyes settled on Jack and Parker's hands for a second and they smiled to themself, but it quickly faded and they drew their eyebrows together and pulled their phone out to text Parker.

arent u allergic to latex???

Chase scooted closer to Blue and waved goodbye to Jesse and Malia. “Godspeed without me, guys.” 

Malia glanced between the two clearly forming couples on either side of her and Jesse. She put her chin on his shoulder. "We might have to split up," she pouted. 

Jesse smiled at her and rested a hand on her back. "Did you want to play? Because I really just want to spin." 

Malia laughed. "I also really just want to spin."

Parker checked his phone and made a weird face at Alec when he saw it was them that texted him. He checked the message and the color drained from his face as he realized his fingertips were not pounding in time with his heart but because they were starting to swell. He pulled his hand away and shoved it in his pocket. “Um, where’s the bathroom?” 

"Seems it's for the best, then." Jesse blinked and looked over at Parker. "Uh, just over there." He pointed to a door under the staircase. 

Feeling Parker's hand pull away, Jack looked down at his own. At took a second longer than it normally would to register the question being posed. "Uh..." Jack turned to Jesse for an answer. 

Parker nodded and rushed to the bathroom so he could run his fingers under cold water. 

Casey, ever eavesdropping, cupped a hand beside his mouth and called across the room to Malia and Jesse. "Give us your boyfriend!" 

Malia sighed. At Casey's suggestion, she closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that!" she said to Casey. She ran a hand down Jesse's back. "Good luck," she said to him before scooting closer to Jack. "Where'd Parker go?" 

Alec laughed at Casey and hopped to their feet. "I'll BRB!" They grabbed the allergy medicine Chase had given them earlier and put it on the ground outside the bathroom. "There's Reactine right outside," they said to Parker through the door ."Don't die!" With that, they hopped back over to Casey. 

Chase looked at Blue and L and kept his voice low. “Who’s spinning? Also, should I use my powers to cheat?” L shook her head. 

"Same to you," Jesse replied, also choosing to pretend not to have heard Casey. He moved over to sit by Casey and Alec. "Are you guys okay if I spin?" 

Blue shook her head. "It's too obvious if you cheat in such a small room." 

Jack nodded his head toward the bathroom. "To the bathroom." He folded his hands in his lap and smiled idly at the Twister mat. "This is great." 

Malia giggled. "Still feeling good? I think you should be plateauing by now. I'm gonna spin, okay?" 

"Yeah! Spin away," Casey chirped, scooting a bit to give Jesse room. As Alec came hopping back, Casey looked up at them. "Everything cool?" 

Parker groaned quietly when he heard Alec outside the door and grabbed the allergy medication on the way out. He took a few and downed them with tap water before returning, hand still in his pocket. He sat between Jack and Malia. “We’re a team? Can I spin?” 

Alec gave two thumbs up, one for Jesse and one for Casey. "Yep!" they replied to both. "We should get the Killers in on this." 

"I just feel so calm. This is what Linda always talks about in my podcast. I just... Ugh." Jack sighed. His hands came up to the scarf to play with the knitting. "Your sister is spinning too," Jack mentioned to Parker as he came back.

Chase sighed and shrugged. “Pretend people are just really high.” L shook her head again. “No way!” 

"Yes we are and absolutely not, I can't play twister in this outfit," Malia said to her brother. She grinned at him. "Sorry, deal with it." 

Blue cackled. "Nah, we'll play fair." She wrapped her arms around L. "Okay but, who is spinning?"

Parker sighed. “Fine.” He smiled as Jack brought up his podcast. “The uterus one?” He pulled out his phone to text Alec quickly.

Pls dont mention it to anyone?

"The Power of U," Jack smiled. "Hosted by Linda Ballerini, expert in hollistic healing and women's health, thank you for joining us today." 

L rubbed her cheek against Blue and smiled. “I can spin if you guys really want to play!” Chase hummed. “I am tall but not bendy. I have trouble touching my toes.” 

Malia's mouth opened a little and she smiled. "Why do you listen to a women's health podcast?" 

Alec winked at Parker, then realized that could be misinterpreted so they texted him back as well.

u got it!! u should also get new gloves for him tho if u guys are playing tweester together??

They laughed at how 'tweester' sounds for a couple seconds then put their phone away. "Are we against each other Casey? 'Teams' is misleading, eh?" 

Parker smiled at Jack more and shook his head at Malia. “It sounds calming!” He checked his messages again and shrugged before putting his phone away. 

"She's just so affirming and understanding and empowering. And her voice is like honey." Jack shrugged. "Helps me relax." 

Jesse was getting more confused by each addition to the rules. "Wait, I thought we were playing as a team? Is it against each other?”

"Oh my gods, are we?" Casey thought about the logistics for a second. "I mean I guess if it's like every person for themself on the board then that makes sense," Casey shrugged. 

"I was thinking like, the two non-spinners face off and whoever wins goes against the winner from another team! But we can also try and cram six people on the mat. That sounds hectic, in a great way." Alec nodded. 

"Six people on the mat could be chaotic but also I love chaos," Casey suggested. "Or we could try to tie teammates back to back and have them play as a conjoined unit!" 

Alec snapped their fingers. “I love that! Let’s do that.” 

Jesse frowned slightly. “Or one from each team at a time?” 

Malia still looked a little confused but nodded. "Okay, okay, fair enough." She overheard Alec and Casey's scheming and leaned over the mat. "Um, friends," she sing-songed. "How about, one from each team, when the first person falls the second person swaps in. Last person standing wins for the team?" 

L smiled. “Hey, that way nobody has to just spin!” She nodded at Blue like this was the perfect solution. 

Casey rolled his eyes. "I mean, Alec and my idea sounds way more fun but sure we can go with the rational thing." Casey leaned towards Alec to whisper, "Okay, so our game is gonna have bath oils, scented candles, and hand cuffs." 

Malia shook her head. "Nope, no, I'm just spinning. Two people per team so it doesn't take too long?" She smiled sheepishly between Chase and Jesse. "Please?" 

Alec grinned at Casey. “I have two of the three! Do you have scented candles?” 

Casey shook his head quickly and put his hands up. "How is scented candles the thing that you don't have?" 

Chase gave Malia a thumbs up. “I love not bending and stretching!”

“That’s a good idea,” Jesse answered quickly to Malia, then nodded and laughed at Chase. 

Alec cocked their head to one side. “Huh, is that surprising? My cabin used to be full of explosives so I steered clear from candles.”

Satisfied, Malia moved back to her side of the mat. "Okay, Parker and or Jack, one of you get out there." 

Casey blinked. "Wow. Amazing. Okay, no, yeah, I have scented candles." 

Blue realized too late that Jack was not the spinner for his team and frowned. "Um," she scooted closer to Chase and spoke very quietly to him. "Hey, do you think this is a good idea?" 

Parker looked from Malia to Jack and tilted his head. “Should I start? Not to brag, but I’m pretty flexible.” 

"I," Jack slapped the floor in front of him, "would love to see that." 

"Ew, Parker," Malia shook her head. "Go for it." She addressed the rest of the room. "Who has the spinner?"

“So now I’m thinking about it and being covered in oil with reduced mobility in a loft that has no railing and surrounded by fire is kinda fucking bananas?” Alec laughed. “Sounds thrilling! I’m glad I’m lucky!” 

Chase chewed on the inside of his cheek, only now noticing Jack’s Lewk™️. “Um...” He looked at Jesse. “Probably not? Should... uh.” He tried to message Jesse through telepathy and looking at him. 

L frisbee’d the spinner over to Malia. 

Jesse glanced over at Chase and raised his eyebrows in question when he noticed his look. “Huh?” 

Parker laughed and stood. Then, when he noticed nobody else was standing, he squatted so he seemed more ~casual~.

"You... Are incredible." Casey was at a total loss for words. "And also your cabin needs a visit from the fire marshall." 

Chase looked at Jack, then at the mat, and then raised his eyebrows at Jesse in question. 

Blue saw that Parker was up first and pressed her lips together. "Whatever," she muttered, and moved to stand on the mat. "Casey," she said to her friend. "Come on. Parker versus the raccoons."

Casey clapped, hearing Blue's challenge. "Yes! Let's go!" He stood up and moved to the edge of the mat. "Three competitors! Two species! One victor!" 

Alec just laughed at Casey and waved a hand. “Go Casey! You got this!”

Jesse frowned slightly and shrugged one shoulder. “I think it’s okay,” he answered Chase. 

Chase bobbed his head. “Alrighty. Spin, Malia. Raccoons should team up and get the human out for now! Then deal with each other.” He smiled. “No alliances!” L protested.

Malia laughed and spun the arrow. "Okay, left hand green."

Parker takes his hand out of his pocket and puts it on the mat, apparently Extremely skillfully.

Chase leaned over and spun the arrow. "Right foot red!"

Blue yawned as she put her hand down, a little off balance.

Casey feeling cocky, turned to face away from the mat, stretched his arms up overhead and leaned back, falling into a backbend with his left hand on green.

Alec whistles at Casey. "Holy shit!" 

Parker put his foot on red.

Blue also whistles at Casey and stretches her foot out to hit a red circle. "Don't get too cocky, Case." she teased.

Casey, grinning cockily, slid his right foot over to land on a red circle. "I will be as cocky as I deserve, thank you."

Jesse spun the wheel now. "Uh, right hand green now."

Parker slid his hand over fairly easily to the green circle.

"Already there, baby!" Casey nudged his right hand over an inch to reach another green circle.

Parker put his hand exactly where Blue was reaching and it knocked her off balance. "Uuuugh," she groaned as she slipped out of place. "You screwed me over, Valentine!" 

Parker blew Blue a kiss and smiled, hoping that this was a joking anger rather than a threatening one.

Casey tried to angle his head up so all the blood wouldn't rush into his brain.

L jumped up and took Blue's place. "I'll knock 'em dead, baby!" She was secretly glad that Blue was out before Parker.

Malia took the spinner back and twirled it around. "Okay... Left foot yellow."

Parker skillfully moves his foot to yellow.

L moves a leg next to Parker's.

Casey steps his left foot yellow, crossing his legs so that he's holding himself up sideways.

Chase took the wheel from Malia and flicked the spinner. "Left hand red!"

Parker moved his hand and leaned on his blisters. He inhaled sharply but managed to save it.

Casey calculated his next move in his head. With a quick switch, Casey managed to flip himself into an upright position on all fours, with his limbs in the appropriate places.

L moved one arm around but simply wasn't tall enough to reach the other colour. "Oof." She fell and sighed. "Sorry guys." She stuck out her lip as she crawled back to Chase and Blue.

"All good!" Chase patted L on the back. "You did better than I could've." He smiled. "It's all about having fun, anyway. Now we can watch them and mix up all the colors on the mat."

Blue booed. "This is rigged!" she protested, then pulled L close to her to kiss her cheek. "You were the cutest one out there." 

Parker is also going After everyone to see which row he's supposed to do because I forgot that he was colorblind ok

L wrapped her arms around Blue and smiled. "Only because you weren't there!" 

Jesse spun the wheel next. "Left foot red, now."

Casey deftly brings his left foot over to a red circle. "We're killing this, baby!"

Parker laughed at Casey. "Are you saying that to yourself?" He slipped as he twisted and hit his back. "Ugh." He rolled. "Jack, get in there." He smiled up at him.

"I'm saying it to my beautiful teammate and supporter over there," Casey nodded his head toward Alec.

Malia smirked at her brother. "Now that you're out you can spin," she teased him. 

Alec cheered as Parker fell. "Whoo! Twister master Casey!"

It took Jack a solid moment to bring himself up to a standing position. "Oh my gods, okay. Ready to watch me fail?" He went over to the side of the mat and tried to visualize how he was going to take Parker's place.

Parker held up his hand to Malia. "I can't. Out on disability." 

"Ugh," Malia swatted his hand away. "Fine, whatever. You ready, Jack?" 

Chase whistled at Casey as well. "I believe in you, Nook!"

"Yep!" Jack called out from the mat. He crouched slowly and carefully placed each limb on a circle. "Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Ohhh my gods." Somehow, he managed to get into the correct position. "Oh my fucking gods, wait, am I doing it?" Casey laughed beside him. "Yeah man, that's it."

Blue took great interest in playing with L's hair now that Jack was on the mat.

Parker pulled his hand away, in fear of it actually hurting, and then grinned at Jack. "Oh, you're a natural!"

"Can you braid my hair?" L asked. 

Malia spun. "Left hand yellow!"

Both Jack and Casey reached for the same yellow circle and for a moment, their bodies wobbled together on the mat. With clutch reflexes, both of them caught their balance, planting their hands on adjacent yellow circles. "Fuck," Jack hissed, chuckling all the while.

Chase bungled the colours up to throw them off, but did it too late

Blue couldn't help but watch as Jack got way too close to her friend's hand. She eyed the shared circle with suspicion then, finally, turned back to L. "Oh yeah, no problem." She ran her fingers through L's hair and started putting it into sections. 

Chase leaned over to flick the spinner, then tossed it in Jesse's direction. "Uh, left foot green, I think it was?"

Casey saw that the easiest green circle was the one caught between them. Trying to move quickly, he launched his foot toward the circle. However, in his haste, he overshot the distance and accidentally kicked Jack's leg out from under him, sending them both toppling to the floor. 

"Ow, fuck," laughed Jack. 

"Sorry! My bad. Here—" As Casey brought himself up to sitting position, he offered a helping hand out to Jack. Jack reached out in response and before his high mind could perceive what was happening, Casey had grabbed onto his exposed wrists and pulled them both up to a standing position. Casey gave Jack a congratulatory pat on the back and turned to Alec, cheering, "Ay! Who's your man!" Behind him, Jack stood open mouthed, frozen.

Alec pointed at Casey and jumped to their feet. "You are! Wow, that was amazing! Did we win?" 

Parker watched the interaction, opened his mouth to say something, and closed his mouth before anything could come out. He tilted his head at Jack and opened his mouth again, but didn't know what exactly he was supposed to say. He pushed himself up and raised his eyebrows at Malia. "Did you see that?" 

"Hell yeah we did!" Casey ran over to Alec with his hands up for a celebratory high five. "Mammal power, baby!" 

Chase smiled at Jesse, seeing nothing wrong with the interaction. "Good job! You won." 

Blue watched them both wipe out with trepidation, and almost stood to interfere when Casey grabbed Jack's arm. But, nothing happened. Blue blinked and sat back.

Malia looked up from readjusting her robe. "What?" 

Jack wasn't sure if he was having trouble processing what just happened or just having trouble processing. He looked back at Parker and Malia and stepped off the mat, his brain struggling to form a continuous thought. "Uh, sorry guys. I guess we lost."

Jesse smiled back. "I guess so. I got lucky with my team." He looked up at Casey. "That was really impressive."

Before Parker could say anything to Malia, Jack was back, so he just shook his head at her. "Nevermind." His heart pounded in his ears. "Oh, well. That doesn't matter, the teams were stacked. Alec, like, never loses games."