(no subject)
1sentences are done, bitches.. I rawk.
#01 - Walking
He marched them for 60 miles, stomping through the front lines and into enemy territory, not stopping and snarling at anyone who whined for a rest stop, until he finally realized no matter how far they went the next step wasn’t going to stop hurting more than the last.
#02 - Waltz
Snuck into their first concert at thirteen and fourteen, ducking past bouncers and tall, angry college kids, shoving their way towards the front of the stage and trying to look older and more badass than they were until
the music started and the mosh pit formed around them, crushing and claustrophobic and oh-my-fucking-god-this-is-awesome.
#03 - Wishes
Two years of the two of them and a cake and then Andy had demanded a party, one then ended up consisting of a single little boy who peered at her through red bangs; it was still something, though, even if he'd wrinkled his nose at her at the idea that birthday wishes existed.
#04 - Wonder
Merrick was 21 and back home, in some other place where Andy's life might've not fallen to complete and utter shit, they would’ve gotten shitfaced and celebrated their freedom from that last ageist bullshit; as it was Andy stared at the ceiling of his tent and nursed the hole in his chest and considered if their years early release had been worth coming at all.
#05 - Worry
Coming home fixed the aching loneliness and the nightmares, but to his irritation the cold, choking fingers tugging at his chest never disappeared completely - even years later the same constricted feeling stopped him from telling Boss Lady exactly where she could shove that memo, and Andy realized what had happened to the weight of world he used to carry around.
#06 - Whimsy
Of course they'd been pro gay-rights before, because they were pro everything rights (except for the goddamn government which didn’t fucking deserve them), but suddenly those particular counter-protests became the most fun - after all, you couldn’t make out in front of abortion-picketers or pro-war fuckers and claim it was for the Cause.
#07 - Waste
The front lines were crumbling, girlyforces running out of money and firepower and conviction, turning tail and retreating to their bases and cities and leaving miles of burned out border and pink buildings; SO tromped through it on the way to fucking finish the job, and he remembered talking about environmental waste of this kind of shit a long damn time ago and found one more reason the war fucking sucked.
#08 - Whiskey
Two years and everything still hurt too fucking badly, he still couldn’t fucking deal with him being gone, so he curled up at the fire with the rest of those fuckers, getting shitfaced on crappy whiskey, the only consolation being that at least it wasn’t vodka.
#09 - War
There had always been that annoying goddamn possibility, in their own world, of being fucking separated eventually - because their own world was a fuckface - but the War didn’t give a shit, it let you be with whoever you fucking wanted as long as both parties could manage to survive, it was love yous between gunfire and mud and even when fucking hurt, still holding together, which was why it was fucking worth it.
#10 - Weddings
They ended up married in city hall, arguing and fighting the whole time with the confused but firm clerk who explained what common law meant (they knew) how after so long it was almost just a formality (that wasn't the point), and that really, it was already done so they should just deal with it (goddamn bitch).
#11 - Birthday
In early February he was still fucking out of it, awake but only half there as
whatever had shattered in his head kept trying to pull itself together, but by
May Merrick was better, out of the fucking hospital, alone in their room
and able to curl up on his side of the bed, almost wanting to be asleep
again.
#12 - Blessing
Andy doesn’t believe in god, is determined to prove the existence of atheists in foxholes, but Merrick is awake and alive and some part of him he won’t acknowledge says thank you.
#13 - Bias
“You’re just fucking saying that because no prissyass fucking girl would blow you in a public bathroom.”
#14 - Burning
The flag was fucking cheapass and flared up too fast, roaring before Andy dropped it and stumbled back into Merrick, yelping and swearing; the redhead snatched up the burned fingers and stuck them in his mouth, which at least got him a snort and cut off the inevitable fucking sulk.
#15 - Breathing
Andy’d curled up against him, face almost against his neck, breathing loud and congested as he slept - Merrick rolled his eyes and decided they needed to get some more goddamn Claritin shit tomorrow if he was going to ever fucking sleep.
#16 - Breaking
Something deep in his chest breaks and splinters, aching as Andy clings and watches and listens to the beeping of machines, grows larger as he ignores it and it crumbles around the edges of his heart and lungs, finally - suddenly - cracks up into his head, demanding fuckass painful, all the shit he can’t fucking deal with snapping and shattering in the same way he’s trying to get this bitches bones to.
#17 - Belief
Causes crumble and fall away, slowly, fluttering to muddy grounds and hospital floors and Girly-owned streets until the need to stand at corners with signs and yell and burn has shrugged and found a smaller redhead, but oddly enough it’s not that bad, being content.
#18 - Balloon
Gidget liked to set his free, watching it float up and disappear, but Merrick, newly mindful of choked birds and the envroment, held tightly to his despite his mother’s irritation with having it in the car.
#19 - Balcony
They dropped a bigass chunk of their war profit -- fucking occupation -- on a crapass little apartment with banging pipes and a leaky sink and a surprisingly sturdy fire escape that was fuckawesome when it was fucking hot, even if their next door neighbor threw a fucking fit when she came out to water her plants and caught them fucking.
#20 - Bane
Andy glared in irritation at the word “decaf” as he drank what was obviously not a complete fucking breakfast and decided the shopping list needed more detailed pictures.
#21 - Quiet
It was completely silent by the time Andy got home, most nights, and he would trudge through the hall, peering in to check on the brat before padding across the carpet to climb into bed; the quiet would stretch out, almost fucking mockingly, but then Merrick would move and slide an arm around his waist and he’d sigh and sleep.
#22 - Quirks
It was never ‘okay’ or ‘alright’ because despite the lilt, ‘yeah’ was a statement, a demand for agreement, an afterthought of politeness, but once in a while it changed to an actual question, to a request - and then Merrick would slide in another finger.
#23 - Question
The question hung in the air and Andy paused, ice cube still pressed against Merrick’s ear, paused and then picked up the safety pin, sticking his tongue between his teeth; of course I know how, he muttered, now hold still.
#24 - Quarrel
The first time they argued in front of Anarchy, he was convinced everything was over, he was homeless again, his world was blasted away with the clean efficiency of the one girly bomb he’d ever seen - two hours later they were curled up on the couch nuzzling and he wondered what kind of crazyass family he’d found.
#25 - Quitting
They huddled in the door to a pharmacy while Merrick wrung out his hair and considered his friend glaring out at the weather, before suggesting maybe they go home for the day, since his mom was making orange scones and he’d just gotten a new Dropkick Murphys CD, and Andy considered him back for a long moment before declaring their flyers were too wet at this point anyway, so they might as well.
#26 - Jump
Andy’s air conditioner was busted and there was no way they were going to go to Merrick’s house and have his mother over, so they pulled some subversive shit by jumping the fence at the country club, fucking around in the pool and charging snacks to some bourgeois fuck - Mr. William’s nephew, yeah, obviously - and getting sunburned as fuck all until the manager tried to corner them and they had to jump right back over.
#27 - Jester
Flowers were girly and don’t grow around base anyway so Tad’s attempted the next best thing with a bouquet of twigs all wrapped in string as he sneaks through the Med Bay in case Lieutenant Black is still being cranky, but he reaches the bed and finds only Lieutenant Litch, inexplicably alone; clucking his teeth in bewilderment Tad puts the twigs onto the thin covers, grinning at the look of confusion he gets from a few beds over and wondering if Lt. Black needed get well flowers somewhere too.
#28 - Jousting
Their second time they were actually fucking sober for, enough that Andy fought back, both rolling around for position until getting fucking hot and impatient enough that he didn’t fucking care anymore - don’t fucking smirk like that, asshole - as long as somebody was going to fucking come already because christ.
#29 - Jewel
While unpacking Andy hands him a pair of earrings, gold and sparkle and not things either of them would ever wear; Merrick looks at the blond in confusion until the diamond magnifies a spot of blood caked into the casing and then they kiss.
#30 - Just
Merrick’s head tilted as he slowly blew a bubble in snuck-in gum, eyes widened as Andy scrunched up his nose in thought and bit his lip - finally tossing blond hair, he shrugged and explained with a simple, “because it’s not freaking fair, duh.”
#31 - Smirk
Merrick grinned at him in that fucking retarded way, like he'd fucking won at something, and Andy rolled his eyes and arched up to catch the redhead's mouth with his own and nip the stupidshit expression away.
#32 - Sorrow
When he was fourteen Anarchy bleached his hair, flicking extra water at his friends and laughing, perfectly happy with how it’d turned out until Dad got home and stared at him, making a soft choking noise before handing him ten dollars for dinner and going to lay down; Anarchy called Spark up and asked him to bring by whatever extra dye was left, as long as it was any other damn color.
#33 - Stupidity
They stumbled into somebody else’s battle, pausing for a second before snapping for everybody to drop their shit and fucking help, jackasses, and running into the fray hollering and shooting; afterwards, completely covered in girlyblood and mud, they gave the asstarded sergeant in his stupid jacket and hair a reaming out and directions back to the front line.
#34 - Serenade
Merrick was on their soapbox, shouting through the bullhorn they’d ‘appropriated’ from the athletic department, and Andy started shoving a few fliers at each passer by so he’d have an excuse to drag him off to the bathroom, because fuck that was goddamn sexy.
#35 - Sarcasm
“Oh yeah, obviously I give so little of a shit I fucking volunteered to go, goddamn enjoyed a fucking year of going shit crazy and - god, you fucking asshole.”
#36 - Sordid
Andy's left-handedness was like his blond hair and snub nose, something that couldn't be helped and all about appearance either way and thus didn't fucking matter in the least, so Merrick'd never given a shit either way - until they realized they could jerk each other off in the movie theater without having to switch seats or bend around awkwardly, and then it still didn't matter but was fucking convenient anyway.
#37 - Soliloquy
They've fucking drugged him again, the motherfuckers, leaving him fucking alone and helpless and obviously Andy can't fucking do anything because if he could he would have already, and even though it's completely fucking useless, every time Merrick stirs a little and moans his name unhappily, slurring the syllables and stuttering it out into 'en-deeeee,' Andy sighs and touches the empty space that should be his hair and murmurs back reassurances that are better off unheard, because they're fucking lies anyway.
#38 - Sojourn
Special Ops was wierdass and was away from base for a lot fucking longer than their other unit had been - four goddamn months in the middle of girlyass territory, the hell was that about; but being out of the claustrophobic fucking tunnels was oddly relieving, and even if their commanders were fuck stupid and probably going to get them all killed, it was almost like that time Merrick's dad had taken them camping, but with more sex in tents.
#39 - Share
He didn’t like Gidget from the start, mostly because he was a lamerface and a conformist, but also because Andy had all an only child’s problems with sharing.
#40 - Solitary
This was fucking cruel and unusual goddamn punishment, being fucking stuck in here when something could be happening, he could be waking up or getting worse or fucking- and Andy didn’t know, fucking bullshit house arrest, and he kicked the bedframe before sitting and digging shaking nails into his palms, waiting for fucking Girlyass to bring him news.
#41 - Nowhere
They rode the bus till it stopped because of closed roads, switched, and rode that one to the end of the line; got off and wondered where the fuck they were, that all the buildings were whole and men and women were walking the streets in some kind of peace, then Andy took his hand and it didn’t really fucking matter that much.
#42 - Neutral
Gidget was fucking bitching at him about being normal and doing things the way he was supposed to, which seemed to be the only thing he gave a shit about; Merrick spun and demanded to know if he had any goddamn opinions that hadn’t been sanitized by the Man, Gidget asked him if he understood the concept of a middle ground, and Merrick flipped him off and stomped upstairs to call somebody who wasn’t a waffling asshole.
#43 - Nuance
Any other kid and they wouldn’t have, but then any other kid wouldn’t have been enough of a realist at five to understand the difference between words and meaning, at least enough to understand that ‘brat’ was as much a term of endearment as ‘lamer’, and to be confused when people asked if his parents actually got along.
#44 - Near
Merrick’s mouth on the back of his neck and his arms tight around him, Andy groans and thrusts back against the other boy’s hips, want needing to just fucking get closer.
#4 - Natural
Zeke could just shut his worthless fucking face; Merrick thrust again, moaning softly and biting down on Andy’s collarbone as the hands in his hair tightened and pulled, all sweat and skin and nothing that felt this fucking could be goddamn ‘unnatural,’ goddamn fuckface.
#46 - Horizon
It’s hard to get any goddamn privacy, just one more goddamn thing to get used to here, but sometimes Merrick will show up early to watch and Andy will stay late, shoulders pressed together in the night silence while the moon sets and disappears.
#47 - Valiant
The grown-ups had laughed at them and their Crayola and construction paper banners, had asked if they were here to protest naptime and having to eat their vegetables; Andy, confused at being laughed at by people who were supposed to agree with them, scrunched up his nose and shoulders and glared at them while they laughed again until Merrick told them only if the vegetables weren’t orgasm - er, organic, which shut the buttmunchers up and got Andy to grin wildly at him.
#48 - Virtuous
His mother got pissed and called him as much of an ideologue as anyone he was fighting against, which he returned with the fact that he’d yet to chuck fucking rocks at anybody for just fucking kissing, and besides, tolerating intolerance was fucking stupid - she half smiled at him in that tired way and told him either way calling third graders cuntsucking bitches still wasn’t appropriate behavior.
#49 - Victory
The last bigass battle actually fucking happened without them, as nobody’d had the fucking sense to, you know, send them a goddamn message or anything - coming back to base, finding it running on a skeleton crew and having orders to go help with the goddamn occupation, where the fuck have you been, Andy and Merrick blinked at each other and decided it fucking figured that they’d miss the goddamn victory celebration.
#50 - Defeat
Matthews - Matthews who did what he was told, who didn't constantly fuck up, who wouldn't go fucking running his mouth like a goddamn idiot - stared and raised his gun, and Andy closed his eyes on the bloody mess and instead thought of red--BANG.
#01 - Walking
He marched them for 60 miles, stomping through the front lines and into enemy territory, not stopping and snarling at anyone who whined for a rest stop, until he finally realized no matter how far they went the next step wasn’t going to stop hurting more than the last.
#02 - Waltz
Snuck into their first concert at thirteen and fourteen, ducking past bouncers and tall, angry college kids, shoving their way towards the front of the stage and trying to look older and more badass than they were until
the music started and the mosh pit formed around them, crushing and claustrophobic and oh-my-fucking-god-this-is-awesome.
#03 - Wishes
Two years of the two of them and a cake and then Andy had demanded a party, one then ended up consisting of a single little boy who peered at her through red bangs; it was still something, though, even if he'd wrinkled his nose at her at the idea that birthday wishes existed.
#04 - Wonder
Merrick was 21 and back home, in some other place where Andy's life might've not fallen to complete and utter shit, they would’ve gotten shitfaced and celebrated their freedom from that last ageist bullshit; as it was Andy stared at the ceiling of his tent and nursed the hole in his chest and considered if their years early release had been worth coming at all.
#05 - Worry
Coming home fixed the aching loneliness and the nightmares, but to his irritation the cold, choking fingers tugging at his chest never disappeared completely - even years later the same constricted feeling stopped him from telling Boss Lady exactly where she could shove that memo, and Andy realized what had happened to the weight of world he used to carry around.
#06 - Whimsy
Of course they'd been pro gay-rights before, because they were pro everything rights (except for the goddamn government which didn’t fucking deserve them), but suddenly those particular counter-protests became the most fun - after all, you couldn’t make out in front of abortion-picketers or pro-war fuckers and claim it was for the Cause.
#07 - Waste
The front lines were crumbling, girlyforces running out of money and firepower and conviction, turning tail and retreating to their bases and cities and leaving miles of burned out border and pink buildings; SO tromped through it on the way to fucking finish the job, and he remembered talking about environmental waste of this kind of shit a long damn time ago and found one more reason the war fucking sucked.
#08 - Whiskey
Two years and everything still hurt too fucking badly, he still couldn’t fucking deal with him being gone, so he curled up at the fire with the rest of those fuckers, getting shitfaced on crappy whiskey, the only consolation being that at least it wasn’t vodka.
#09 - War
There had always been that annoying goddamn possibility, in their own world, of being fucking separated eventually - because their own world was a fuckface - but the War didn’t give a shit, it let you be with whoever you fucking wanted as long as both parties could manage to survive, it was love yous between gunfire and mud and even when fucking hurt, still holding together, which was why it was fucking worth it.
#10 - Weddings
They ended up married in city hall, arguing and fighting the whole time with the confused but firm clerk who explained what common law meant (they knew) how after so long it was almost just a formality (that wasn't the point), and that really, it was already done so they should just deal with it (goddamn bitch).
#11 - Birthday
In early February he was still fucking out of it, awake but only half there as
whatever had shattered in his head kept trying to pull itself together, but by
May Merrick was better, out of the fucking hospital, alone in their room
and able to curl up on his side of the bed, almost wanting to be asleep
again.
#12 - Blessing
Andy doesn’t believe in god, is determined to prove the existence of atheists in foxholes, but Merrick is awake and alive and some part of him he won’t acknowledge says thank you.
#13 - Bias
“You’re just fucking saying that because no prissyass fucking girl would blow you in a public bathroom.”
#14 - Burning
The flag was fucking cheapass and flared up too fast, roaring before Andy dropped it and stumbled back into Merrick, yelping and swearing; the redhead snatched up the burned fingers and stuck them in his mouth, which at least got him a snort and cut off the inevitable fucking sulk.
#15 - Breathing
Andy’d curled up against him, face almost against his neck, breathing loud and congested as he slept - Merrick rolled his eyes and decided they needed to get some more goddamn Claritin shit tomorrow if he was going to ever fucking sleep.
#16 - Breaking
Something deep in his chest breaks and splinters, aching as Andy clings and watches and listens to the beeping of machines, grows larger as he ignores it and it crumbles around the edges of his heart and lungs, finally - suddenly - cracks up into his head, demanding fuckass painful, all the shit he can’t fucking deal with snapping and shattering in the same way he’s trying to get this bitches bones to.
#17 - Belief
Causes crumble and fall away, slowly, fluttering to muddy grounds and hospital floors and Girly-owned streets until the need to stand at corners with signs and yell and burn has shrugged and found a smaller redhead, but oddly enough it’s not that bad, being content.
#18 - Balloon
Gidget liked to set his free, watching it float up and disappear, but Merrick, newly mindful of choked birds and the envroment, held tightly to his despite his mother’s irritation with having it in the car.
#19 - Balcony
They dropped a bigass chunk of their war profit -- fucking occupation -- on a crapass little apartment with banging pipes and a leaky sink and a surprisingly sturdy fire escape that was fuckawesome when it was fucking hot, even if their next door neighbor threw a fucking fit when she came out to water her plants and caught them fucking.
#20 - Bane
Andy glared in irritation at the word “decaf” as he drank what was obviously not a complete fucking breakfast and decided the shopping list needed more detailed pictures.
#21 - Quiet
It was completely silent by the time Andy got home, most nights, and he would trudge through the hall, peering in to check on the brat before padding across the carpet to climb into bed; the quiet would stretch out, almost fucking mockingly, but then Merrick would move and slide an arm around his waist and he’d sigh and sleep.
#22 - Quirks
It was never ‘okay’ or ‘alright’ because despite the lilt, ‘yeah’ was a statement, a demand for agreement, an afterthought of politeness, but once in a while it changed to an actual question, to a request - and then Merrick would slide in another finger.
#23 - Question
The question hung in the air and Andy paused, ice cube still pressed against Merrick’s ear, paused and then picked up the safety pin, sticking his tongue between his teeth; of course I know how, he muttered, now hold still.
#24 - Quarrel
The first time they argued in front of Anarchy, he was convinced everything was over, he was homeless again, his world was blasted away with the clean efficiency of the one girly bomb he’d ever seen - two hours later they were curled up on the couch nuzzling and he wondered what kind of crazyass family he’d found.
#25 - Quitting
They huddled in the door to a pharmacy while Merrick wrung out his hair and considered his friend glaring out at the weather, before suggesting maybe they go home for the day, since his mom was making orange scones and he’d just gotten a new Dropkick Murphys CD, and Andy considered him back for a long moment before declaring their flyers were too wet at this point anyway, so they might as well.
#26 - Jump
Andy’s air conditioner was busted and there was no way they were going to go to Merrick’s house and have his mother over, so they pulled some subversive shit by jumping the fence at the country club, fucking around in the pool and charging snacks to some bourgeois fuck - Mr. William’s nephew, yeah, obviously - and getting sunburned as fuck all until the manager tried to corner them and they had to jump right back over.
#27 - Jester
Flowers were girly and don’t grow around base anyway so Tad’s attempted the next best thing with a bouquet of twigs all wrapped in string as he sneaks through the Med Bay in case Lieutenant Black is still being cranky, but he reaches the bed and finds only Lieutenant Litch, inexplicably alone; clucking his teeth in bewilderment Tad puts the twigs onto the thin covers, grinning at the look of confusion he gets from a few beds over and wondering if Lt. Black needed get well flowers somewhere too.
#28 - Jousting
Their second time they were actually fucking sober for, enough that Andy fought back, both rolling around for position until getting fucking hot and impatient enough that he didn’t fucking care anymore - don’t fucking smirk like that, asshole - as long as somebody was going to fucking come already because christ.
#29 - Jewel
While unpacking Andy hands him a pair of earrings, gold and sparkle and not things either of them would ever wear; Merrick looks at the blond in confusion until the diamond magnifies a spot of blood caked into the casing and then they kiss.
#30 - Just
Merrick’s head tilted as he slowly blew a bubble in snuck-in gum, eyes widened as Andy scrunched up his nose in thought and bit his lip - finally tossing blond hair, he shrugged and explained with a simple, “because it’s not freaking fair, duh.”
#31 - Smirk
Merrick grinned at him in that fucking retarded way, like he'd fucking won at something, and Andy rolled his eyes and arched up to catch the redhead's mouth with his own and nip the stupidshit expression away.
#32 - Sorrow
When he was fourteen Anarchy bleached his hair, flicking extra water at his friends and laughing, perfectly happy with how it’d turned out until Dad got home and stared at him, making a soft choking noise before handing him ten dollars for dinner and going to lay down; Anarchy called Spark up and asked him to bring by whatever extra dye was left, as long as it was any other damn color.
#33 - Stupidity
They stumbled into somebody else’s battle, pausing for a second before snapping for everybody to drop their shit and fucking help, jackasses, and running into the fray hollering and shooting; afterwards, completely covered in girlyblood and mud, they gave the asstarded sergeant in his stupid jacket and hair a reaming out and directions back to the front line.
#34 - Serenade
Merrick was on their soapbox, shouting through the bullhorn they’d ‘appropriated’ from the athletic department, and Andy started shoving a few fliers at each passer by so he’d have an excuse to drag him off to the bathroom, because fuck that was goddamn sexy.
#35 - Sarcasm
“Oh yeah, obviously I give so little of a shit I fucking volunteered to go, goddamn enjoyed a fucking year of going shit crazy and - god, you fucking asshole.”
#36 - Sordid
Andy's left-handedness was like his blond hair and snub nose, something that couldn't be helped and all about appearance either way and thus didn't fucking matter in the least, so Merrick'd never given a shit either way - until they realized they could jerk each other off in the movie theater without having to switch seats or bend around awkwardly, and then it still didn't matter but was fucking convenient anyway.
#37 - Soliloquy
They've fucking drugged him again, the motherfuckers, leaving him fucking alone and helpless and obviously Andy can't fucking do anything because if he could he would have already, and even though it's completely fucking useless, every time Merrick stirs a little and moans his name unhappily, slurring the syllables and stuttering it out into 'en-deeeee,' Andy sighs and touches the empty space that should be his hair and murmurs back reassurances that are better off unheard, because they're fucking lies anyway.
#38 - Sojourn
Special Ops was wierdass and was away from base for a lot fucking longer than their other unit had been - four goddamn months in the middle of girlyass territory, the hell was that about; but being out of the claustrophobic fucking tunnels was oddly relieving, and even if their commanders were fuck stupid and probably going to get them all killed, it was almost like that time Merrick's dad had taken them camping, but with more sex in tents.
#39 - Share
He didn’t like Gidget from the start, mostly because he was a lamerface and a conformist, but also because Andy had all an only child’s problems with sharing.
#40 - Solitary
This was fucking cruel and unusual goddamn punishment, being fucking stuck in here when something could be happening, he could be waking up or getting worse or fucking- and Andy didn’t know, fucking bullshit house arrest, and he kicked the bedframe before sitting and digging shaking nails into his palms, waiting for fucking Girlyass to bring him news.
#41 - Nowhere
They rode the bus till it stopped because of closed roads, switched, and rode that one to the end of the line; got off and wondered where the fuck they were, that all the buildings were whole and men and women were walking the streets in some kind of peace, then Andy took his hand and it didn’t really fucking matter that much.
#42 - Neutral
Gidget was fucking bitching at him about being normal and doing things the way he was supposed to, which seemed to be the only thing he gave a shit about; Merrick spun and demanded to know if he had any goddamn opinions that hadn’t been sanitized by the Man, Gidget asked him if he understood the concept of a middle ground, and Merrick flipped him off and stomped upstairs to call somebody who wasn’t a waffling asshole.
#43 - Nuance
Any other kid and they wouldn’t have, but then any other kid wouldn’t have been enough of a realist at five to understand the difference between words and meaning, at least enough to understand that ‘brat’ was as much a term of endearment as ‘lamer’, and to be confused when people asked if his parents actually got along.
#44 - Near
Merrick’s mouth on the back of his neck and his arms tight around him, Andy groans and thrusts back against the other boy’s hips, want needing to just fucking get closer.
#4 - Natural
Zeke could just shut his worthless fucking face; Merrick thrust again, moaning softly and biting down on Andy’s collarbone as the hands in his hair tightened and pulled, all sweat and skin and nothing that felt this fucking could be goddamn ‘unnatural,’ goddamn fuckface.
#46 - Horizon
It’s hard to get any goddamn privacy, just one more goddamn thing to get used to here, but sometimes Merrick will show up early to watch and Andy will stay late, shoulders pressed together in the night silence while the moon sets and disappears.
#47 - Valiant
The grown-ups had laughed at them and their Crayola and construction paper banners, had asked if they were here to protest naptime and having to eat their vegetables; Andy, confused at being laughed at by people who were supposed to agree with them, scrunched up his nose and shoulders and glared at them while they laughed again until Merrick told them only if the vegetables weren’t orgasm - er, organic, which shut the buttmunchers up and got Andy to grin wildly at him.
#48 - Virtuous
His mother got pissed and called him as much of an ideologue as anyone he was fighting against, which he returned with the fact that he’d yet to chuck fucking rocks at anybody for just fucking kissing, and besides, tolerating intolerance was fucking stupid - she half smiled at him in that tired way and told him either way calling third graders cuntsucking bitches still wasn’t appropriate behavior.
#49 - Victory
The last bigass battle actually fucking happened without them, as nobody’d had the fucking sense to, you know, send them a goddamn message or anything - coming back to base, finding it running on a skeleton crew and having orders to go help with the goddamn occupation, where the fuck have you been, Andy and Merrick blinked at each other and decided it fucking figured that they’d miss the goddamn victory celebration.
#50 - Defeat
Matthews - Matthews who did what he was told, who didn't constantly fuck up, who wouldn't go fucking running his mouth like a goddamn idiot - stared and raised his gun, and Andy closed his eyes on the bloody mess and instead thought of red--BANG.