"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit." Cleo groaned. She shut her door and turned to Silas. "New plan. I go down there and sweet talk Des. You stay up here and–I don't know–contemplate life." Spinning she leaned into a vanity mirror to fluff out her blonde hair and check to make sure that her eyes weren't red, a sure sign that she hadn't taken her meds today. "Sound good?" She asked the boy.
"Perhaps it is just best if I go down myself, I don't want Sam getting into any more trouble than necessary because I'm refusing to obey Des…" Silas sighed, opening the door again. "Your hair looks fine by the way." and with that he walked out. He stopped by the bathroom to quickly flush the toilet.
"No! What are you doing?" Parisa hissed, she wasn't angry at Silas. More like she was scared of what Des might do.
I'm doing the right thing, for once.
He made his way downstairs, calmly, with his usual neutral expression. His mouth was slightly curved up at the edges, but not so much that anyone would be able to tell it was a smile. "Sorry, I needed the bathroom."
Des sighed a breath of relief. "And you're okay? You didn't get hurt on the roof right?" They asked, looking over Silas like a stressed mother. Nathaniel was sitting on the table, legs crossed. He had his notebook out.
Again, the boy surprised her. So much so that Cleo darted out to the landing–missing all the creaks of course– and knelt down out of sight. She probably shouldn't be eavesdropping again, but it mattered if they got into trouble. She went through a few scenarios in her mind over how to sweet talk Des into either forgetting that this all happened, or at least make their punishments nice and easy. Cleo frowned, unsure of why she was doing this in the first place.
"No, Des, I didn't get hurt. And I made sure Sam didn't get hurt either. What kind of guy would I be to let a lady get hurt?" Silas shrugged, then he averted his gaze downwards as if he was genuinely sorry for what he had done. "I understand if you are to punish us both, but it was my idea to go up there. It's the only place we could go to be able to clear our minds. School has been a little tough lately and stargazing usually does the trick when we need something to calm our nerves and all."
"No, no, you aren't getting punished for going up to the roof. I'd prefer if you all asked my next time, but, you know you can't have alcohol." Des shook their head. "First off, that's illegal in general. Second off, this is a home, you all could be thrown back out for that."
While Silas couldn't smell the alcohol on himself, he could smell it on Sam. And boy was it strong. "I'm sorry…" Silas murmured, feeling somewhat guilty. Now what would happen? Was he to be searched every time he came into the house? Was he to even remain in the home?? He couldn't go anywhere else, and he definitely did not want to go back home to his family any time soon.
Sam chewed on the inside of her lip, glaring, though she wasn't sure at who or what. Silas? Des? Nathaniel? Well, she was always glaring at Nathaniel. Maybe all three. "Throw me out then. It was mine anyways." Sam stared at Des, daring them. Take this away from me. I dare you. She didn't know what she was thinking, but she didn't back down. She'd been thrown out enough anyways. She was used to it. Maybe this was what she got for making a friend. That hadn't happened before, it made sense.
Des shook their hand. "I said could, I won't. I'm not telling anyone about this, just please, promise me one thing." They sighed. "Please, please don't do it again."
Silas looked up slowly. "So we can go on the roof again, just no more alcohol?"
(Sorry it's so short, writer's block)
"As long as you all tell me, okay?" Des smilled, turning to Nathan to make sure he got that. Nathaniel nodded. "I'll tell you, probably."
Sam could feel her resolve start to waver, and the time of night started to hit her. She was starting to nod to what Des was saying. She could feel a new wave of it though when she realized something. "What about him?" she asked, staring Nathaniel down. "How do we know he won't tell on us? He's done it before."
(Bump?)
(Do you want me to change my reply to something easier?)
(Oh, sorry. I didn't get the notiffs for that.)
(Oh okay np)
Sam could feel her resolve start to waver, and the time of night started to hit her. She was starting to nod to what Des was saying. She could feel a new wave of it though when she realized something. "What about him?" she asked, staring Nathaniel down. "How do we know he won't tell on us? He's done it before."
Nathan frowned, hopping off the table and standing up. "I do not 'tell' on you. Everything I do is for the study." He said, Des resting their hand on his shoulder. "If you don't do anything without permission, you won't have anyone tell on you."
"Fuck you and fuck your study. You can shove it right up your –" If Sam's nails weren't so short there would be four crescent-shaped cuts in her palms. But she couldn't do this. Not right now. Not in front of Des, not in front of Silas. Her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth and her jaw clenched. Later. This would happen later. She turned to Des slowly. "Can I go up to my room please?"
Nathan remained quiet, his notebook would be taken away if he made a scene right now and he couldn't have that. He would have to break out his spare notebooks and they weren't a good texture. Des smiled kindly. "Of course dear, I'll bring up some tea for you later, alright?"
All of this. Too many emotions. All Sam could do was nod and choke out "Thanks," as she sprinted up the stairs. She noticed Cleo but didn't have the capacity to deal with that either. She didn't try to slam the door behind her but it happened anyway. She sat down on the edge of her bed and rested her elbows on her knees and her forehead on her hands. Her hair fell around her.
As Sam ran off upstairs, Silas let out a sharp, short, breath of air.
He glared at Nathan, his blood beginning to boil as his eyes flickered from the boy to his notebook.
"Let me handle this." Shade growled, switching places with Silas once again before grabbing Nathan roughly by the collar. "Give me one fucking good reason why I shouldn't slit your throat."
"You'd get Silas thrown out of the house and into juvie, Shade." Nathan tilted his head. He had figured out all the alter's based on their interactions with the others and mannerisms. By now, Des had left the room, for some reason trusting the two not to kill each other.
"Tch.." Shade's grip tightened. He pushed Nathan roughly against the nearest wall, his face dangerously close the other's. "We are not friends, you don't get to use my fucking name, kid." His eyes remained on Nathan, but his mind was on something else.
In one swift movement he wrenched the notebook from Nathaniel's hand and backed away from him. Reaching into his back pocket, where the lighter was, he stared the boy dead in the eyes as he pulled it out and set the notebook on fire.
… Nathan, Nathan screamed. This was the most emotion anyone had seen him emote in years, he rushed over and grabbed his notebook, throwing it to the ground and stamping out. Once the fire was out, he decked Shade full on the face, hissing like a rabid animal. The two could hear a scrambling from the kitchen as Des heard the scream.
"Oh Jesus Christ, what now?" Sam muttered to herself. Screaming wasn't uncommon, but she didn't recognize the voice. That was new. She threw open her door and ran down the stairs, where she saw Nathan going after Silas. "Hey!" She grabbed the back of Nathan's shirt and threw him against the wall.
Shade picked himself up from the floor, wiping the slight trickle of blood from his lips, his smile wide and maniacal. "Oh you really didn't want to do that." he stalked his way towards Nathaniel, moving Sam out of the way so she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. "Sorry darlin', I need you to back away for a moment."
He looked down at the boy, his eyes sparkling with madness. "What are you going to do now? Huh? None of your other notebooks have the same texture as that one." he dealt a sharp blow to Nathan's stomach twice. "All those notes, lost. All your studying, for nothing."