Chapter Text
In hindsight, Joel knew that this was a horrible idea.
He’s sitting on the couch in Scott’s living room, dusting off the cover of a book. Beside him is Gem, who has a similar book in her lap. fWhip sits on the floor in front of them, typing away on his phone, and Joey is next to him, taking a sip of his drink. Scott himself is sitting on a stool near the kitchen counter.
“If you spill anything on those books, you’re paying for them,” Scott says, waving an unsteady hand towards Joel and Gem. His bracelets clang when they hit each other.
“Oh, relax,” reassures Joel, almost playfully. He flips the cover over. “You won’t miss your nerd books, anyway. I’m sure you’ve got plenty more.”
Scott just rolls his eyes and takes another sip of his drink.
Gem clicks her tongue. “It’s all very interesting, Scott,” she says, voice giddier than usual. Joel isn’t sure if it’s her interest or the alcohol. She flips another page.
“Speak for yourself. I haven’t found one cool thing yet,” drawls Joel. He gestures to the stack of books on his right that he’s already flipped through. “‘S all boring, and fake.” He fakes a yawn for good measure, which only serves to make Joey giggle.
“Yeah, Scott,” says fWhip from the floor. His voice is dripping with sarcasm—Joel’s not sure at whose expense. “Why couldn’t you be a witch instead of a… what’re the books about, again?”
“Gods,” Gem says without looking up. She rubs the page she’s reading between her index finger and thumb.
“Right. Why couldn’t you have been a witch instead of a religious person?”
Joey snorts.
“Who says I’m not a witch?” Scott asks playfully. He picks up his cup and takes a long drink. “I might be. Witches are cool.”
“I’ve always liked wizards better. They have cool hats,” says Gem. She flips another page.
“Crystals are pretty,” Joey agrees.
fWhip nods his head. “I like shiny things.”
Joel groans. “You guys are boring.” He puts his finger on a random page of the book and flips to it.
“Wish Katherine would get here,” Joey says, almost to himself. “She’s bringing board games or something, right?”
“Actually, I’m texting her right now,” fWhip says. He waves his phone screen in Joey’s direction. “Says she probably won’t make it.” His phone dings, and he looks back to the screen. “And also to save her some pizza.”
“Aw, come on,” Joey groans, at the same time Scott mutters, “Crap, the pizza.”
Joey perks up. “Wait, you didn’t order it yet?” He goes to take another sip of his drink, only to scowl at the cup. Joel figures it’s probably empty.
Scott shakes his head. “No.”
“Order some fries for me, please?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“And maybe refill my drink?”
Joey pouts. Scott makes a face at him. Joey sighs, defeated.
Scott fishes his phone from his pocket with unusual difficulty. He walks into the other room, dialing a number onto the screen. “I’m getting two plain pies!” he calls from afar.
“I wanted fried mozzarella,” fWhip whines.
Joel looks back down at the random page he opened to, and promptly snorts.
“What?” Gem asks, looking at the book in Joel’s lap.
“The name of this God—er, Goddess,” Joel says. He clears his throat dramatically. “The Blue Axolotl, Goddess of the Ocean.”
“No way,” Gem laughs, giddy. “Let me see!”
Joel hands the book to her. Once it’s out of his lap, he takes the opportunity to pick his cup back up, taking a long drink.
“Isn’t an axolotl, like, a type of fish?” fWhip asks, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Gem says. She hands the book back to Joel.
Joey stifles a laugh. “Pretty sure they’re not supposed to be blue, either.” He still stares into his empty cup, twirling it in his hands.
At that moment, Joel hears Scott perk up from the other room. The worker on the other end of the phone must have picked up, he thinks.
Gem lets out a hearty laugh. “So weird,” she says.
fWhip shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, it’s Scott.” Gem chuckles at that.
“Yeah, alright. Hey—what’s the book called?” She asks curiously. Her voice still has that giddy tone in it. Joel decides that it’s probably the alcohol.
“The one I have?” he asks. His fingers rub on the leather cover.
Gem nods. “Mhm.”
“Uh…,” he mumbles, flipping back to the cover and using his finger to save his page. “Gods and Goddesses: The Disposition and Worshiping.”
“Fancy name,” Joey comments.
Gem nods. “Sounds cool,” she says, but then— “Wait, you said worshiping?”
Joel looks back to her. “Yeah, why?”
Her brows furrow. She looks back to the book. “I wonder why he has a book about worshiping gods.”
“And goddesses,” fWhip chimes in.
Gem nods. “And goddesses,” she adds. “Do you think he actually, like... worships them?”
Joel looks down at the book cover. He flips it back open to the page he saved, stares at the words Blue Axolotl.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he says, and downs what’s left in his cup.
There’s an illustration on the opposite page, he notices. It’s of a tall woman—very tall, wow, okay—with coral pink hair and skin an odd shade of blue. She’s drawn standing in an off-white dress, the water rising around her in what he thinks is meant to be a halo. The picture is labeled at the bottom.
The Blue Axolotl, it reads, Goddess and Guardian of the Ocean. The waters bend to fit her shape, and their creatures flourish in her loving hands.
No one else on the page was given an illustration. He doesn’t bother to read their names.
“Right. I’m grabbing another drink,” Joey declares, rising from the floor. He stretches his back with a groan.
Joel looks up. “Get me one, too?” He shakes the empty can in his right hand for emphasis, the book still in his left. Joey nods.
“Thanks,” Joel says, handing the other man his cup. And although he won’t remember much else, he’ll know, painfully well, that this wasn’t the end of his bad decisions that night.