Man I Hate This Stuff, Don't Let It Be Love

[rokittomars]

Ice Water for the Ice Queen (NaNoCharacters)

"You are aware this is a monumentally bad idea?"

"Shut up," Jess hisses, re-securing her grip on the rope while I lounge on the wall behind her.

"No seriously," I expand, not bothering to keep my voice down, inspecting my nails, "We've done some stupid ass shit, but this may take the cake."

"Then leave," She shoots me a murderous look and I just smile blandly.

"Someone's gotta make sure you don't get caught," I shrug and scrape at the nail polish Sim forced on me, frowning as it chipped off slowly. Jess was...well, to be completely honest, I had no idea what she was doing. All I know is that if she and Quinn let go of their respective ropes, then they would drench somebody in...something. I honestly would have thought that Quinn was too much of a good girl to do anything like this, but Jess could be...convincing. The only annoyance on my part is the fact that to make sure this happens, is that they have to skulk in the little alleyway by the side door of the house to the basement, and I could feel the thrumming of the shitty pre-show music through the walls. And it was making my skin...buzzy, as Quinn always said.

"Ice Queen approaching," The aforementioned Quinn hisses down to us. If I squint right, I can make out her smile in the darkness.

"Prepare to drop," Jess calls back quietly, delighted. I squint my eyes again, searching the 'alleyway' for their intended target. Then she comes into view. Jax Wilson totters toward the door, as always on too high heels to make up for the fact that she was, like, four foot nine or something.

"She's such a--" I hear her complain to the guy she's with before she's cut off by Jess whooping and letting go of the rope. I can't see Quinn, but I know she did the same. Something comes rushing down from above, a liquid something that splashes all over Jax, causing her to screech and jump back...falling right on her ass when a heel snaps off.

"Retreat!" I hear Quinn's laughter-choked voice call and then Jess and I are sprinting away, stopping a few blocks down to catch our breath.

"Fucking cigarettes," Jess mutters, hands on her knees. I poke lightly at the stitch in my side and wince, "Fucking running."

Quinn comes sprinting up and stops, grinning at us, not even breathing hard. Jess and I look at each other, then her, grinning in front of us.

"Fucking runners," We say at the same time. Quinn just laughs, "It's called stamina bitches."

"So, what was that?" I finally question, still panting.

"Oh, just some ice water for the ice queen," Quinn smiles sharply, a menacing look in her eyes I've never seen before.

"Laced with blue hair dye," Jess tacks on, with her evil grin.

I raise my eyebrows at them both while they grin at each other. I sigh and start off back to the show, fucked if I was going to miss this.

"Aw, come on Ari," Quinn needles, sliding her way under my arm in that way only she could manage, "You know she deserved it."

"I know," I scratch lightly at her arm and smirk when she shivers, "But aren't you the responsible one in this relationship?"

"Yes," She says firmly, "But all bets are off when it comes to ex-girlfriends, you know that."

I relent a little bit, tugging her closer to my side as we approach the house again. It was kind of funny. And if I know Quinn, Jax is going to be blue for the next two weeks.

- - - - - - - - -

*hasnolife* I should just gave my NaNo characters their own tag. They have way too much fun in my head, really. Also, I was re-reading my story and this stuck out at me. (Personally, I think it's funny, which surprises me, because I don't think I can write funny.)

- - -  -- - - - -

"Okay, seriously," Jess looks down at me with an amused expression, "How the fuck do you even end up like that?"

I look up at Ari, who looks down at me. We share a look, (Do you know? No, do you? Huh. Yeah.) then look back at Jess and Dan and shrug in tandem.

"Wow," Jess shakes her head and plops down on the couch next to Ari, pulling Dan down next to her.

"Quinn likes the floor," Ari finally half explains in an amused/fond tone. I nod in agreement.

What Jess is wondering about is how I managed to get on the floor between Ari's legs, my back leaning on his right one and facing his left, sharpieing a city skyline along the inseam of his jeans. We're in some new basement, smaller than the last, but nicer in my opinion(i.e. less creepy.).

"You guys," She points at each of us in turn, making her point, "Are weird."

I roll my head over on Ari's leg to look at him. (How many times a day are people going to tell me that? As many as it takes until your normal. Haha, not happening. I know. I'm going to go back to drawing now. Okay.)

"As if you have room to talk Jess," I inform her lazily, more concentrated on another building almost in the crook of Ari's knee. I look up at Ari and add as an afterthought, "You're going to have this stained in your skin for the next week, hope you don't mind."

"S'fine," Ari says, sliding his long fingers into my hair, causing me to hum happily and turn into his hand a bit. Mm, Ari's long fingers were practically made for this.

"Whatever Quinn," Jess rolls her eyes at me at the same time, "Like we would even hang out if either of us were remotely normal."

"Truer words have never been spoken," I quote at her raising my brows (Get the reference?) before turning to Ari, "Can you hand me the blue one?"

"Buttbiscuits," She replies archly, raising her own. (Yeah I got it dumbass.)

"Lovely," I reply, grinning at her, then taking the sharpie from Ari, "Thanks," I pop the cap between my teeth and set off to making a moon near his knee.

"So how come Braxton gets a Quinn Foster original?" Jess complains, shooting me a look when I hand Ari back the sharpie and survey my work.

I shoot her a look, "I owe you nothing."

"You owe me everything," She decides, languidly throwing her arms behind her head and narrowly missing elbowing Dan in the head, who from either instinct or practice moved out of the way perfectly.

"For what?" I reply, narrowing my eyes at her jokingly.

"I kissed you," She says smartly, "That's worth everything."

"You ambushed me with your mouth," I complain, "To ward off the advances of the lesser."

"Still worth a lot, even when it works out okay for me in the end," Jess shrugs, kicking at my shin where it's poking out from under Ari's leg.

"I'll draw you a zombie bunny or something," I sigh, leaning more heavily on Ari, who's giving me a strange look (What the fuck? You kissed?), "Oh!" I exclaim, then grin at him sheepishly, "We were at the Mall Wednesday, and some guy was being a dick."

Ari nods sagely, looking away towards the stage. Underneath his normally cool exterior, I can practically feel him buzzing, like ten million ants are moving underneath his skin. I laugh a little, "And you call me bouncy."

"You literally bounce though," Ari argues and I lay my head against his leg, laughing.

"Touché," I decide, lacking the ambition to argue.

"Quinn you realize there are about twenty death wishes on you right now?" I blink slowly and peer over at Jess, who's watching the crowd with some amusement. I follow her gaze in time to catch a bunch of murderous glances, before they look away, having been caught. One set of eyes doesn't though, and I look back emotionlessly as Jax send bolts of ice at me with her eyes.

"Why did I date her again?" I ask the world at large, looking forwards again and frowning at my picture, "Needs lights."

"Well she is kind of hot, in a bitchy way," Ari reasons kindly and I have to grin at him.

"Thank you for trying to logic my follies," I stretch my hand over and grab red and green sharpies, "Okay, Christmas lights in August."

"Sounds like life around here," Ari quirks and I laugh.

"So wait," I re-track my brain as I start filling in little squares of light on Ari's city, "Why do they hate me again? I can never remember why people do."

"You're dating the Twig Wonder," Jess states and I blink, looking up at her.

"What the hell?" I ask, tilting my head to the side, confused.

"You snatched up their hot commodity Foster," She waggles her eyebrows at me, grinning evilly. I look at Ari sidelong to find him giving me a similar look. (Do you know what she means? Nope, do you? No idea.)

"Jessica Kennedy," I state, "You make nooooo sense."

Jess rolls her eyes and huffs, "They're jealous Quinn. Do you know how many girls on the scene wanted him?"

"Aw," I fake complain, "Do I have to stake my territory or some shit?"

"Wouldn't hurt," Jess smirks, and I just know she's going to like this a little too much.

"Fine," I huff, but grin anyways. I lever myself up using Ari's leg and deposit myself in his lap.

"Very cute," He quirks, rolling his eyes.

"Psh, you love this," I grin before leaning down and kissing him. Hard. Might as well make it a solid claim, I reason. I start a little when his tongue dips into my mouth, but then hum happily and go along with it, enjoying myself.

"Modesty Police!" I hear yelled suddenly behind me, then a pair of hands jabs right into my sides. I jump and yelp, detaching myself and nearly hitting Ari in the nose. I can't manage to find my balance though, and end up tumbling to the ground, looking upside down at a grinning Sim.

"You," I inform him, annoyed, "Are an asshole."

"I," He says back, "Am protecting your virtue."

"Real fuckin' cute," I quip and he grins at me, before throwing himself down on Ari's other side.

"Where's John?" I ask him, righting myself and deciding against getting up of the floor, instead settling back to where I was between Ari's legs, picking up my green sharpie and frowning at my drawing.

"Working," Sim explains, "He'll be here in an hour or so."

"Late hours," I comment, adding some more lights before declaring myself done. I look at Ari, "Tada."

"Awesome," Ari declares, taking the green sharpie back and lacing his hand through mine.

"I'm about to puke," Jess announces, and I look over at her, concerned. She just wrinkles her nose at me, "I'm not allowed to ingest anything that sweet in large doses."

"Jealous," I shoot back, unruffled.

"Romantic," She accuses.

"Realist," I stick my tongue out.

"Weirdo," She sticks right back.

"Unoriginal argument," Ari declares, interrupting us, "Quinn wins."

"No fair," Jess complains, "You're biased!"

"I'm right," Ari crows, self-righteously, and I interrupt before they can begin arguing.

"Dan's wins!" I yell, and they all turn to look at me funny. I frown, spreading my hands, "You can not argue that."

"Fine," Jess sniffs, "Dan wins."

"Dan always wins," I decide right then and there, "As he is Supreme Overlord of Arguments."

"Dan," Sim says gravely, smiling at me, "Do you accept the rights and responsibilities of this title?"

"Why not," Dan shrugs, looking ultimately bored.

"Awesome," I grin, "There will be a knighting ceremony in three days, you will be expected to attend. My imaginary manager will send you more information via carrier pigeon."

"Sweet," Dan kind of smiles at me and I take that as a victory.

"Hey Ari," I tilt my head over to look at him, "Who's paying tonight?"

"Uh," He thinks, "That screamo band, the one you liked, and...This pretty cool girl band has the headline. Fucked if I remember any names."

"Black Sheep, Stupid Kids, and," Sim checks a piece of paper that he wrestles out of his pocket. (Wrestles, because he's wearing a pair of jeans that look like...An oil slick designed by a pervert. [Thank you bandom.]) "The Stand?"

"Like Stephen King?" I roll my eyes up to peer at Sim, who shrugs, "Huh," I decide, "Cool."

"They do weird covers," Jess says, "It's the kind of thing that would fall flat with anyone else doing it, but it works for them."

"Weird how?" I frown, still watching Sim attempting to get the paper back in his jeans. It's quite hilarious actually.

"Weird, like weird," Ari mumbles, fingers tapping on the back of my hand impatiently, and I fix him with a look.

"Eloquent, buzzy," I smirk and Ari smacks me lightly on the back of the head. I pout, "Hey! Abusive boyfriend much?!"

"I thought I raised you better Ari!" Sim interjects, having apparently given up the fight with his pants (as the paper is clutched in his hand), smacking Ari, "Don't be a misogynist. That's a slippery slope, little brother."

"How could I ever be a misogynist Sim?" Ari complains, eyes still flicking over the "stage" (Taped off area, more like), "I grew up with you. You were trading clothes with girls in school before you were twelve."

"For fucking serious?" I interrupt, looking at Sim, who's blushing a bit, "Dude. New hero."

"You're weird," Ari murmurs, touching my nose with his free hand.

"Am not, that's so beyond legit. If I was a guy, I would so cross-dress," I announce, and Jess giggles.

"Let's just dress up as dudes Quinn," She decides, and I whip my head around to face her with a splitting grin.

"No, dude, don't even front with me," I say bouncing a little, "That was my life from when I was five until eleven. Now, it's just called cosplay."

"Fuck yes," Jess enthuses, "We'll be cooler than that Quinn chick."

"I'll be Dan," I offer, laughing.

"How about I stick with being Dan," Dan speaks up, not even watching us.

"Fair enough," I reason, "Only because you are Supreme Overlord of Arguments."

"Use your powers for good," Jess warns, "Or a whole shit ton of bad. That too."

"For the record," I announce at large, "I'm trying to imagine you with tentacles now. Just so you all get a slice of the crazy."

"Quinn, you're awesome," Sim laughs, and I smile at Ari's knee.

"Thank you," I squeeze Ari's hand and he grips back for a second. My smile gets wider.

"Hey guys," A voice says and I glance over to see Zero, in all his cool slouchy glory.

"Zee," Ari nods, looking right back at the stage area.

"Hey man," Jess says, sliding liquidly onto Dan's lap and gesturing to her now vacant spot on the couch, "What's up?"

"Shit," Zero shrugs, settling down and nudging me with his foot, "Hear you got some art for me man."

"Fuck yes," I remember, digging into my back pocket, "He's a little creased, but whatever."

I present Zero the paper, sitting back on Ari and inserting my ring finger into my mouth to chew on nervously. Ari notices immediately and untangles his hand from mine to slide up into my hair again, carding through slowly, twisting and rubbing the strands. I go lax, nearly boneless under his (seriously amazing, holy fuck) long fingers.

"Dude," Zero speaks, looking up from my drawing. I fight to sit up a little straighter, looking at him seriously, "This is fucking awesome."

"Told you dude," Ari murmurs, sliding his fingers over my head with just enough pressure to make me squirm in a good way.

"No, you don't even," Zero gapes, looking back down at the drawing more closely, "What the fuck is he holding?"

"Gulper eel," Ari almost smiles (between his real smile and psuedo-smile) and tugs my bangs a bit. I bite back a groan. Seriously, what the fuck? How long has this been a thing?

"Ari, stop," Sim interjects suddenly, and Ari's hand falls away from my head. I whimper a tiny bit, and roll back to stare at Sim plaintively.

"No," He points at me seriously, then at Ari, "I mean it."

"Jerk," I grumble, but smile at him thankfully. He just shakes his head at me and I hear him muttering something about 'Not watching my little brother practically get his girlfriend off on some fucking floor'. I shake my head and look back at Zee who's scrutinizing my drawing still.

"So, you like?" I ask, hand hanging uncertainly between my lap and mouth.

"Yeah," Zee nods enthusiastically, wavy black hair swishing on his cheeks, "This is so awesome. Did you have an idea for like, our name or something?"

"Nah, I kept blocking," I confess, frowning a little, "I feel like that blood spatter streaking thing is so overdone, you know? I was thinking something way more original, but I don't exactly know what, you know?"

"No, yeah, definitely," Zee nods, looking over at me, "Maybe just some standard font, like, none of that huge fancy scrawling or scratching, you dig?"

"Fuck yeah," I agree, scoping the area over top my boy speculatively, "Simple, but bold, you know?" I slap my hand over my eyes quickly, groaning, "I sound like an interior designer."

"Pretty much," Sim says seriously, and I lazily flip him off. He replies, "Fuck you too darling." I feel Ari's leg jostle behind my back, and I tip my head back to look at Sim who's levering off the couch. He waves at us dorkily, smirking, "Show time."

"Fucking finally," Ari grumbles and I smile at him.

"Fucking impatient," I inform him and he quirks at me.

"Coming from the girls who's hoping for a zombie apocalypse," He rolls his eyes, "Riiiight."

"Only because I'd kick ass," I inform him, smiling smugly.

"Hell yeah Quinn," Jess interrupts, "Wanna be a kick-ass cosplaying zombie killer with me?"

"So beyond there," I agree, wrenching my eyes up to the stage area as Sim steps forward.

I roll my head over to Ari, taking in his excited and buzzing form. He senses my gaze and looks back, smiling at me. I smile back, grabbing his hand and twisting it around to kiss his palm.

"Time for a show," I mumble into it, grinning.

- - - - - -  - - -

*headdesk* *mumbles* I don't even know.