ᴀ sᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ's ᴅᴀʏ - Nick Miller

ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴛ ᴜᴘ

Cassy tried very desperately to remain polite, even as Bearclaw had hiked up the back of his shirt to reveal the drawing he had on his lower back. It looked like a child's shitty attempt at a handprint, and it was much too far down to even be considered tasteful.

"That's why they call me Bearclaw." He explained, still smiling.

"You did that yourself? In Middle School?" Cassy asked. Had he not showered since then? He definitely smelled like it.

"See, now it's retracting it's claws, and now it's contracting it's claws." Bearclaw explained, arching and flexing his back, sticking his ass out toward her. Cassy tried not to recoil. Those two words meant exactly the same thing, but she didn't correct him. "Like, rrrrgh, I'm gonna attack you in the... wild."

Cassy could have fallen to her knees in appreciation as her phone began to ring.

"Oh, my phone's ringing. I'm so sorry, I just... it's very important. I have to take this." Cassy said, gesturing to her phone as she began retreating to her bedroom.

"Oh, no worries! I'll just be here, cooking! I love cooking! It's my... it's my only outlet." Bearclaw called after her. Cassy shut her door behind her, pressing accept no matter who it was.

"How's your date going?" Nick asked on the other line.

"You gave my number to Bearclaw? Seriously?" Cassy hissed.

"Wait, which one did you want me to give your number to?" Nick asked, suddenly really good at playing dumb.

"Dave!"

"Dave is so boring." Nick said, frowning.

"Bearclaw just told me a ten minute joke about squirrels with the punchline "eat these nuts"!" Cassy whispered.

"Seriously? He's so awesome." Nick replied, laughing. Cassy groaned.

"Nick, I don't want to hurt his feelings! You have to tell me what to do!" She whisper-yelled.

"Why do I have to?" He asked.

"Because you got me into this mess!" She replied. "This is your fault!"

"This is not my fault! I just wanted you to get over that asshole who doesn't know how to treat you." Nick replied. Cassy groaned.

"Like you would know how to treat me." Cassy snapped in reply, ending the call with a huff. Nick put down his phone, frowning, her words sinking in. He so very desperately wanted her to know how he would treat her: like a damn queen.

"Hey, mama bear." Bearclaw said, running into her bedroom and flopping onto her mattress. Cassy bit her lip.

"Hi." She replied. "Can I-" He shushed her, pressing his entire hand to her face.

"Shh, me first." He said lowly. "When Nick told me you wanted my number, I was all like... aargh! And then I was like, Nick, this might be the best thing that ever happened to me." Cassy put her head in her hands, mentally cursing Nick for all of his days. "Now you go."

"Um..." She paused, running through every possible sentence in her head. "What I was going to say was... you're... an old soul."

"Hey, I wanted to tell you." He interrupted, sitting up so he was very, very close beside her. "Nick told me what you said before, and I figured out my sex character. Sergeant Giddyap Carruthers." Cassy blinked, taking a minute to process what he said. Sex character? Since when did she... oh. God damn, she was going to string Nick up like a fucking scarecrow. "Hey, um, if we make love later, and I tell you to pretend that I'm a scary ghost, are you gonna be weirded out by that?"