Thea squealed, whipping around and punching Dylan so quickly that it didn't even look like she moved. Avery laughed, knowing how she did it.
"The girl's got super speed, Dylan, so I'd watch your back from now on if I were you," she warned. "And thanks, E. I didn't sew it, my sister did, but I came up with the design."
(Wait, what happened to Dylan scaring Thea?)
There was another loud bang on the door. Vaughn head If from upstairs and hurried down, throwing the door open. An orange haired girl stood there with bags of food in her arms. “Wow, you got here a lot faster-“ she began, but was interupted when Vaughn jerked her into a tight hug and muttered something softly to her.
“Jesus, someone’s excited,” she laughed, letting herself in and going into the kitchen. “I brought food, water bottles, your medication, and I did not bring the alcohol that you asked for because you have an issue!” She dropped the bags down to reach up and mess with his hair.
Vaughn smoothed his hair back down and smiled genuinely, which was surprising to the others. “Thanks, this means a lot to me. Stop by soon, okay?”
“Of course I’ll be stopping by, this is my cabin! I’ve got to head back before my roommate notices that I ditched her at the bar, though. She was plastered!” The girl cried, laughing, and Vaughn did too, surprisingly. They hugged again before the girl left, leaving him to unpack the bags.
"Who was that?" Avery questioned, walking into the kitchen. Thea had stayed behind with Element, and the two were chatting.
“Oh, that was Veronica, this is her families cabin,” Vaughn said, seeming back to being emotionless, like he hadn’t just been laughing and smiling a moment earlier. He put food items into the fridge and cabinets, along with bottles of drinks.
Avery looked at him, feeling as if there was something he wasn't telling her. "Okay… But who was she? How do you know her, and how in the world can she actually make you laugh?"
“She’s.. one of my best friends. She’s helped me get through some hard stuff, and she’s someone who I have grown to completely trust,” Vaughn said before looking at Avery with a soft frown. “I do feel joy and happiness, I do laugh and smile as well. I’m just careful about who I share it with.”
(I knew that would happen…. and though I meant for it to happen I would like to point out that according to physics Dylan would be quite dead.)
Dylan took a good 10 or so minutes to recover, and by then Thea had moved on to chat with Element. He was about to join them when he noticed Avery and Vaughn chatting. A look of…sincerity on Vaughn's face. For a second, Dylan felt a pang of jealousy.
Just at that second a violent urge threatened to take control, and Dylan had to quickly look away and move on to keep from straight up murdering Vaughn.
He approached Element and Thea, and asked, "Heya, Lenny? Mind if I borrow you for a sec?"
Element looked over, surprised. "Sure. Whats up?"
Dylan sighed. He knew he needed to have this talk, before it came up at a later and more inconvenient time. Yet it still took all his will to ask, "Can we talk in private? I need to clear somethings up."
"Sure." She nodded, said goodbye to Thea, and took him into the hallway. "Whats wrong?"
"Do you remember when Avery said I probably wasn't human? She was right. What I am I don't know quite yet, but I'm something else. Ilonean, maybe. And I have a family in the Flame."
He paused, waiting to see whether Element would spare him the trouble of explaining further.
Element's face showed no emotion. "This isn't good Dylan." she whispered. ( guys… just gotta throw it out there. You do remember Element is British right? I mentioned it a lot in the beginning but I didn't know if you caught on )
(Sorry! I'm back! I had to go somewhere last night and couldn't get back on my computer.)
(Meh, who needs physics. (I'm kidding! I'm kidding!))
(I remember that E's Brittish, I just always forget…)
Avery nodded slowly. "Okay, cool. I mean, obviously you'd have those emotions, or else you'd probably have killed us all by now," she half-joked. "Um. Thanks for explaining, I guess. I'm just… gonna go back to the others, now."
She turned on her heel and walked away, back to Thea. When she noticed that Element and Dylan were gone, she asked her friend about it.
Thea shrugged. "Dylan said something about talking to Element in private, then they walked down the hall."
"Oh. Okay. Uh, thanks," Avery said, slightly confused about what they would have to talk about in private. "Well, as much as I'd love for you to stay, you've got a team to run while I'm gone. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, see you!" Thea wrapped her friend in a tight hug. Whispering in Avery's ear she said, "Be careful, please," then left as quickly as she'd come.
Vaughn picked up a small brown bag labeled “V’s Medication”, and he took out the few small bottles of pills. He could already feel his body loosen up, and he opened a bottle and dumped a few pills into his hand. He gradually dry swallowed them, ignoring the voice in his mind that said that he should have checked the dosage. He stuffed the rest into a drawer and leaned against the counter. He could already feel it taking effect, clouding his anxious thoughts and making him feel almost numb.
"Dylan, what are you going to do about this?" Element hissed. "I don't think Vaughn and Avery are going to like it."
What could they be talking about? Avery wondered. If it's something about the mission, they could just talk out here, but if it's not…
She glanced toward the hall, her ears starting to change and grow. Then she stopped them and quickly changed them back. No. No, I won't eavesdrop on my friends. I'm sure there's a reason for it, and I'm sure they'd tell me if it was important.
“I’m going to start on dinner,” Vaughn called to the others. He searched through the fridge and cabinet, taking out pasta and a bag of already made pasta. He turned the stove top on and began boiling water to make the pasta.
Element looked up and Vaughn's voice, and sighed. "We'll talk about this more later. I don't think you should tell the others yet." she said, sounding exhausted and worn out. She shifted Jared's lap top to her other hand, and walked into the kitchen.
Avery forced a smile as Dylan and Element came back. "Hey, guys," she greeted them before heading to the kitchen herself.
"Pasta. Nice," she stated, still with that fake grin on her face.
Lenny groaned inwardly. Her talking with Dylan seemed to have slightly annoyed Avery. She put on her own fake smile, and sat down at the table. "I love pasta." she said.
"It's better than junk food, that's for sure!" Avery tried to joke. "Which, I'm sure, is all we'd be eating at the gas station."
"I'd eat junk food anywhere." Element teased, and she opened the lap top. Hacking into it again, she pulled up some more files. "Guys! Guys!" She cried standing. "I forgot to tell you! I found some information on where the time stone might be!" ( has it dawned on you that I just did an idiotic thing and copied the avengers with the stones )
(Bwahaha! 😂 No! I never thought about that!)
Avery blinked, surprised. "What?!? Where?" she questioned, making her way over to Lenny.
(Lmao it’s fine.)
The corner of Vaughn’s lips twitched up in a very faint smile, and he kept quiet. He continued to cook, mixing the salad into a large bowl while the past boiled.