Work Text:
Mike panted softly as he ran around the track, relishing in the way the wind blew through his fur. The track had become his escape from things that were bothering him, of which he would rather not even begin to try and think of. That was the point of the track: to make him forget. Sure, it meant he was spending less time at the lunch table with his friends, but that was just... complicated. It was very complicated, as his hungry, growling stomach could attest to. Clenching his fists, he just pushed himself harder, ignoring the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Good job, Mike!" James jogged over as Mike slowed to a stop, clapping the korat on the shoulder. "Man, you are just so fast! It's unbelievable, really."
"Aww, it's not that big a deal." Mike blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, his other hand accepting the bottle of water James offered him. As he was drinking it down, though, something caught his eye. The doors to the school cafeteria burst open, and out came a clearly distressed Rachel. Mike's eyes widened: without having been in the cafeteria, he had no idea what might have gone down. Still, he could tell that something was wrong, and his friendly instincts kicked in. "Hey, I'll be right back, okay?" He handed the bottle back to James and jogged over to the side of the building, where Rachel had let herself slide down the wall and slump down on the grass.
"Mikie?" Getting up close to Rachel made Mike realize that she was crying, little tears dripping down her cheeks. As she attempted to wipe them away, more came to replace them. It was a fruitless affair. "Why aren't you at lunch with your friends?"
"Uh, I was practicing track." Eager to switch the topic, he knew he had to figure out what was going on with Rachel. Sure, he wasn't exactly the best person to go to when it came to cheering someone up, but he was the only one there. He didn't feel right just leaving her alone like this. "Did something happen in the cafeteria?"
"You could say that." Rachel laughed through her tears, looking at Mike, who had now squatted down to reach her eye level. "Did you see Jess's play?" Mike nodded, tugging nervously on his scarf. He had a terrible track record when it came to theater. That was one of those things he'd love to bury in a mental graveyard and never, ever unearth. "Well, it turns out Jess based all the characters off of us. They're all just..." She sniffled, wiping at her eyes again. "... just one note characters. She thinks all I think about is fucking! She used my brother to prop up her vendetta against Tess. Ughh..." She ran her hands down her face, groaning. "So I got mad and stormed off. Now I don't know what to do."
"Wow, uh..." Mike was stunned. Every friendship had its tests, as he knew all too well, but he never expected there to be a fallout between Jessica and Rachel. They'd always seemed to be in lockstep, so this was something new. It made sense why Rachel would be upset, though. Thinking back to the play, he had a feeling he knew what character Rachel was talking about, and if that was the case, it was a little insensitive. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what. If he said the wrong thing, that would probably only make Rachel feel worse. This felt like a time where Paulo would be the better person to go to. At least he and Rachel had a longer history. "I'm sorry, Rachel. That sounds awful." Reduced to general platitudes, he at least had the courtesy to move around so he could sit next to her against the wall.
"Thanks Mikie." She sighed deeply, leaning back so she could look at the sky. "I feel like all I do is let people push me around, and I'm tired of being nice about it. You get what I mean?"
"More than you realize." Rachel glanced at Mike, giving him a faint smile. Then she surprised him by laying her head on his shoulder. Immediately Mike's face bloomed bright red, his body freezing up as he wasn't sure what to do in such a situation. He did his own glancing at Rachel, who finally seemed to be calming down. That was a relief, though he couldn't say that he'd actually done much. He'd just kinda sat there like a doofus.
"You're a good listener, you know?"
"Oh, I, uh, try my best. Thank you." Rachel giggled, which only made Mike's blush that much more prominent. They sat there together for a couple more minutes, just watching the rest of the track team do their sprints, but they were soon interrupted by an unwelcome source: Mike's stomach grumbling. Now Rachel was giving him a more serious, inquisitive look.
"Mikie, have you not eaten today?"
"Uhh..." The longer he deliberated, the more serious Rachel's expression became. "I just, uh, wasn't hungry, that's all." He put on his best smile, but his grumbling stomach betrayed him. Rachel sighed, but to Mike's relief she didn't press further into why this was going on.
"At least eat an apple or something for me, okay Mikie?" Looking into her eyes, Mike found that his desire to not heed that plea was waning. It was hard to say no to her, as it turned out.
"Okay, I will." Smiling again, Rachel laid her head back on Mike's shoulder, and the two of them let life pass them by for a bit.