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It had been a very hot summer this year at the mysterious manor where survivors were invited to partake in trials for their lives. Albeit stressful and at times tense among the participants, most had accepted by this point that there was no escape and had tried to be friendly amongst one another.
So it was no surprise to find a vast majority sitting outside in the gardens, even with the stinking heat making cool sweat stick clothes to skin as people conversed or did small activities to get the thought of feeling hot out of their minds. Emma had ended up by the gardens with Andrew close by. His pale complexion making him glow when the sun hit his frame. He hated the summer heat, but for once, sitting quietly with someone as they dug into the dirt and planted sprouts and seeds made the usually apprehensive man more keen to smile a little.
Without saying a single word, the albino moved away from the comfortable shade of the trees, his trusty shovel in hand as he began to observe the size of the holes the gardener had dug up already and began to make holes ahead, mimicking the distance and depth of the other holes. Emma looked up, almost surprised, with wide hazel eyes as she smiled, choosing not to make a compliment as she nodded in thanks. This made a small smile appear on Andrew's face, he never was one for small talk so he appreciated the silent nod.
Meanwhile, Mike and Tracy had decided to fill up buckets with water and use hoses to spray and wet each other. Their giggles and laughs echoing as less energetic survivors sat together to watch the duo go amuck as Wick dashed into the sprays of water, making Victor, who sat by the shade smile a little.
Among all these smiling faces was Norton Campbell, who by the looks of was appreciating the cool breeze that had suddenly swept the gardens, the small mist coming from the water hose that hit him every now and then made the man appreciate the open space. His usually gloomy aura fading away briefly as he sighed and took off his hat, his stray, curly locks flattened down by the helmet and his hair greasing up from the sweat. the ravenette scratched the back of his head as he looked beside him in the shade at his closest friend, Naib, who was content with the cool breeze as a chance to close his eyes. But even with the shade and water misting their heat-stricken bodies, everyone seemed to agree they needed something refreshing.
"Hey everybody, come take a look at this!"
William's voice boomed from the manor's hall, making everyone stand up and tread over lazily indoors, meeting the football player at the dining hall with Eli Clark, who was holding up a note as he waved it from side to side to cool himself off, it was so hot for him he had to lower his hood to rest on his shoulders as he spoke to the arriving survivors, Mike and Tracy trudging water in along with them made some cuss and groan as they knew someone would have to clean the slipping hazard. The Forward cleared his throat as he stepped aside to reveal a carton full of glass bottles with red caps. Some gasped in excitement, while others stared curiously at the bottles.
"A gift from the owner of the mansion, the note Eli's fanning himself with reads it's a treat for the hot weather in hopes we are all holding up okay!"
As William explained the situation, several people started to inch toward the crate in an almost feral frenzy to grab a bottle. It was then Eli stopped many of them on their tracks to state "The crate only has one bottle for every head, so do not take more than one!"
with what seemed like a warning unheard, everyone grabbed a bottle and took off to their spot back outside in the gardens in an unorderly manner, especially with Kreacher shoving people aside as he left, pushing into Norton in the process far enough that the taller man stumbled a little and cussed, "Watch it you fuckin' dog!" he said with a sigh as the prospector finally got to the crate... only to find his supposed bottle missing and the crate empty.
Norton groaned as he looked to Eli, who gave him a raised brow in concern, "There's no bottles left..." he mumbled as Eli shook his head,
"I told them all, only one bottle! I'm sorry Norton, maybe have a look around, see if someone took a bottle by accident!"
The ravenette shook his head, making a small smile appear on his face by force as he thanked Eli for the concern and began to trudge back over to his spot in the garden. A gloom shrouding over him once again.
Meanwhile outside at the gardens as Naib took a sip from his bottle, he noticed Kreacher leaving from the manor to the garden in an almost more shifty than usual way, making the long haired man tilt his head as he observed the thief pull out from his vest two bottles. At the same time, the mercenary noticed his friend Norton coming out of the manor with nothing, making Naib scratch his cheek as he looked around, seeing Mike and Victor talking about Wick, who seemed to enjoy rolling around on the wet stones of the path around the gardens.
In the mercenary's mind, his plan was set, but first he had to make sure he didn't lose his bottle of soda, and as dickish as it might had been, he only trusted Norton the best as he walked over to the visibly moody prospector.
"Hey Nort, can you do me a favour and keep an eye on my soda?" he asked, making the man look up to the brunette and nod, grabbing the bottle and bringing it close to his hip as Naib walked over to Mike and Victor.
The two men stopped their discussion as they took notice of the brunette approaching, Mike being the first one to speak up, "Oh Subedar! to what do we owe your presence to?" he asked as Naib pulled them both aside and began to whisper-talk of his plan. A smirk on his face that became infectious to the other two men, who seemed keen for this plan to take motion.
Norton was unsure how long it had been in the day, but the work was once again arduous. Children and elderly alike worked together in the mines to bring back coal and minerals to the city, this was long before his incident. Life was hard, but once a week or so, carts from the richer sections of the local town came to bring sweets and treats for a nickel's price.
The ravenette had spent most of his money to get some semblance of groceries for his family when a soot-covered kid tugged at his pant-leg.
"Hey mister, do you have a nickel for a coca cola?" they asked, to which the prospector tilted his head to,
"Why you askin' me for a nickel and not your ma?" he asked in response, to which the kid pointed to a woman sitting at the alleyway nearby,
"We used up our money for a doctor to see why she's sick, she apparently has a thing called... um.. diabetus something.. and he said she would need some sugar to feel better!"
Norton looked at the child in a mix of guilt for asking and frustration he couldn't do much for the kid as he dug into his pockets and found a single nickel. He then sighed as he smiled a little and placed the dirtied coin on the child's palm, "Here you go kid, use my last nickel to get one..." he said softly as the kid lit up and thanked him, running to get a bottle of soda and rushing back to the sickly woman.
The prospector didn't realise he had stood there and watched until the kid smiled at him and waved, "Thank you mister" they shouted.
It was then a cry of pain snapped Norton out of his memory as Kreacher ran and fell down on his face. white slime covering his face as Wick was latched onto his pant-leg. The thief screamed as he tried to wipe his face as Mike ran over to the bearded man and used the water hose at full force on his face, "Ooops, sorry~" he mused as Victor's shoulders shook from his silent laughter, clicking his fingers to get Wick off of Kreacher's leg. The thief in question was almost ready to chase around the acrobat when the blonde held up the thief's bottle of soda and with his thumb over the opening shook it and sprayed the carbonated drink on the man's face. This instigated a chase as Eli watched from the window, shaking his head in disappointment but a satisfied smile on his face.
Norton couldn't help as he chuckled a little, looking a little surprised when Naib finally sat beside him and took his bottle back, "What took you so long?" he asked as Naib gave him an unopened glass bottle with a small wink.
"Just some mercenary work~" he mused as he rested his chin on his palm, looking at Norton and back to the unopened bottle, "well what are you waiting for? open it up!"
The prospector was wide eyed at the mercenary's gesture, making a smile grow on his face as he opened up the bottle, the hiss of some of the carbon releasing making Norton flinch as he gave the drink a sniff and then took a very small sip. almost immediately, he sputtered and shook his head with an exasperated noise as he looked to the smiling mercenary, who had now started to laugh at the man's reaction, "Why is it spicy?!" he exclaimed, to which Naib took the bottle and started to shake it, letting the fizz escape in small bursts without spilling any soda before handing it back to the confused ravenette.
"Here, I made it flat, try it again!"
Norton hesitated at first, but he did as he was told and took a sip. The sudden sweetness of the drink making the back of his teeth hurt as he pressed a hand to his cheek, but as it mellowed out and left an aftertaste in his mouth he started to like it as he exclaimed to Naib, "That was like liquid dynamite... I like it!"
Naib laughed as he took a sip of his own, now flat, cola. Scooting to sit closer to Norton, who didn't seem to upset about it as he let Naib lean his head on his shoulder, "I'm happy to hear that!" he said as they sat in silence. Their spot cooling down significantly as the sun began to set, and they had a full view of it.
"So... are you ever going to tell me what you were up to or no?"
"Maybe... ask Morton, maybe he'll tell you~"
A small smack echoed softly, "You dick!"
The prospector and the mercenary started to laugh as the cry of Kreacher shouting for Mike to stop running sounded off in the whole manor.