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Morning starts with the thuds of rushed footsteps and the evident smell of burnt toast—It’s Niall, of course it’s Niall who can’t cook for his own sake. And there’s the only one that should be trusted near the stove, educating him.
“You can’t put it in high temperature for a short period of time Niall..” Trix had the toast in the garbage bag by then.
“But it’s much faster!” Niall shoved another toast in the toaster.
“That’s… not how it works.”
“How does it not?”
Then came the weary man, clad in a stained hoodie and eyebags. “How do you not know??” Leo rubbed his eyes.
“I do this all the time and it works!” Niall watched as white smoke arose from the toaster, it had only been 15 seconds. “Can’t be different now.”
“…maybe because you had the toaster set for a longer time?”
Trix joined the conversation again, “I think it’s the temperature, actually.”
All three looked back at the toaster, the usual “6” set as “10”.
“Oh.”
Too late, the toast was now charcoal. Not enough charcoal to sustain a campfire, but it was charcoal.
Leo blinked, “Who was the last one to use the toaster?”
A chuckle sounded.
“Beebs?” Trix called.
“…yes???” The gremlin of a woman merely revealed herself, to which only the top of her head was visible to the three.
Leo groaned, “You left the toaster on the highest temp again.”
“Yeah, and?” Her face scrunched to something only capable of being described as this: >:3.
“My breakfast,” Niall held up the other burnt toast, somehow without the ‘oh shit it’s hot’ reaction.
“Go with The Bug, it’s out to get—“
“YOU LET THE BUG OUT?! WITHOUT SUPERVISION???” All three of them, in unison, shout.
“…oh.”
The only time the four can deal with being together is under the situation of The Bug being out. Though of course, the adrenaline of some thing being out to the public is one way for teamwork to be formed. A minute passes, then two. Then a few more left the four worn out.
“Where is she?” Niall cried out. He crouched until his hands rested on his knees, and he gasped for air like a 3 year old pulled out of a public pool by a dilf lifeguard.
“Your guess,” Leo panted, “is as good as mine.”
“Same,” Trix and Beebs slumped by an apartment wall, for they had not bothered with their asses on wet dirt.
“I think,” Beebs plants her head on the wall, “that we should just go back—“
“WE ARE NOT COMING BACK, NOT WITH HER ON THE LOOSE.”
“…my bad.”
“But when we do return,” Leo adds, “I’ll order Chinese takeout for us, yeah?”
Everyone didn’t hesitate, “Sure.”
It was quiet afterwards, but the kind that stretched too long. The silence was quite awkward now. No one knew what to do now.
Then came the horrendous sound of an insect.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Beebs screeched.
“I don’t know! But calm down!” Trix yelled back.
Niall was either brave or stupid enough to reach his hand out to where he thought the sound could possibly come from. And there he held The Bug by the neck. “WE FOUND HER!”
She bit him.
“OW NEVERMIND.” He yelped, and released her instinctively.
“No wait—“ The panicking Trix dives down to The Bug, accidentally tackling Niall too.
“OW”
“Sorry!”
The Bug hisses.
“I…” Leo freezes, “What do we do?”
Beebs was on the phone, “Done.”
“What.”
“Ordered takeout for you because I burnt your toast.”
“No, that was Niall’s toast you burnt. I didn’t eat toast.”
“Still, got our tacos and chips & salsa, and even quesadillas!”
“I said I’ll order Chinese takeout, not Mexican.”
“Oh… uh, surprise then?”
“I- nevermind.”
Trix, at last, cradled The Bug like a premature baby while Niall struggled his way up. “Sorry,” Trix mumbled.
“It’s fine,” Niall was not fine. He was drowned in bruises to which you may think he was infected with a disease that peaked in the Middle Ages.
“Lunch time! Everyone!” Beebs interrupted.