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"Who in their right mind decided to pair us together?" Roshan sighed, staring at Damien as he lounged on faun's couch. An open bag of potato chips lay beside them, and an amused, absolutely obnoxious smirk spread across their face.
"I'm pretty sure that was mostly Lilith. I don't know what she's planning, but anyone can bet that she absolutely meant to put us in a group together." Damien shifted in his position on the couch, pulling into a sitting position, hands clasped. "But, I suppose we should make the most of it. Or not."
Roshan rolled fauns eyes and sat in a comfy chair across from the prankster. "I can't believe I'm being forced to work with you."
"Thrilled to be here, too," they deadpanned. Then he tilted his head to the side, thinking. "You know, I'm thinking that we release chickens in the school elevator, then hide in the vents as we watch the chaos unfold?"
Roshan sighed for what must've been the millionth time. "No, that's an awful idea. Where are we even supposed to get chickens? And why in the elevator, only a few people use it!"
"I was just coming up with ideas," Damien muttered, popping several potato chips into his mouth and chewing loudly, just so they could see Roshan squirm.
"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
————————————𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚
"No, we can't set the school on fire," Lilith reasoned.
Meg shrugged and laid back on Lilith's couch. "Just a thought."
Lilith's living room was large and cleanly decorated, with stark whites and warm grays. Lilith was sitting on the couch beside Meg, and despite the fact that the group had decided to break off into groups of two, JJ and Alanna were here too. Alanna sat comfortably on the sofa nearby, while JJ was lying upside-down on the sofa-chair. Their legs were swung over the top of the chair, their wild, curly hair billowing out from beneath them, almost touching the ground.
JJ suggested, "We could cover everything in glitter." Their eyes twinkled in the light of the now-setting sun peeking through the windows of the room.
"No, no, absolutely not," Lilith said, always the negotiator. And, perhaps, the only one there that had an inch common sense. "That would be a mess. Imagine how long that would take to clean up!"
"We could bedazzle everything instead," Alanna says.
"Yeah, but that would take forever," Meg sighed.
"If only we could figure out something fun but not horrific," JJ sighed, turning themselves right-side up and settling into the seat mostly correctly. They rubbed their head, wincing. "I wish I didn't sit upside-down for so long. My head hurts now."
"That's it!" Lilith shrieked, bouncing up from the couch. At the rest of the group's confused expressions, she smiled brightly. "I think I have an idea."
𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚————————————
"So what exactly are we supposed to be doing?" Asryn questioned, looking out at the still waters of the lake near Fitz's house, their arms crossed.
"Planning a prank. But I think we can leave the ideas to the others," Fitz replied, hands in his pockets.
They were walking along a path around a clear, wide lake. The sun was beginning to set, casting long beams of light over the water. The two figured that a nice, quiet walk around the lake, far from other people, would be nice.
"The others would be hopeless without us," Asryn muttered.
Fitz chuckled to themself.
"Maybe Roshan would be okay, but Damien? He's out of his mind. And don't get me started on Lilith. Or JJ. Without us, this whole senior prank thing would come unraveled."
"Right. It's likely," Fitz replied.
They fell into a hushed silence, not quite sure what to say. Fitz was sure that the others would probably have some ideas; he was sure that it would be Asryn and his job to hammer out the details so the plan actually worked.
As they rounded a corner of the lake, an question popped into Fitz's mind.
"So... why did you join in with this prank thing?" they asked.
Asryn looked briefly surprised, raising their eyebrows a bit. The expression faded quickly into thought. She pursed her lips, then answered, "I guess I just wanted something to do. And everyone needs something to do at our school, anyway. Everyone's bored. I might hate people altogether, but I also hate being bored."
"I feel that. People suck."
They nodded. "Yeah. People do suck."
There was a beat, and then Asryn asked: "So why'd you sign up for all this, fellow People-hater?"
Fitz chuckled at the nickname, then said, "Well, I suppose for most of the same reasons you're here. And because I like mischief every once in a while."
"It's a healthy commitment," Asryn commented.
They lapsed back into silence, but something about it was different this time, more comfortable. The waves of the lake lapped gently at the shore, splashing the rocks, and birds chirped in nearby trees.
Fitz hoped to God that this prank wouldn't be a total disaster. And most of all, they hoped that this all wasn't for nothing.
Because if it was, Fitz had some words for Damien.
————————————𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮
"So this is your room?" Orion said, studying a painting set on one of the walls. The room was a mess, but a beautiful mess, in Orion's opinion. Unfinished paintings were scattered across the room, papers filled with sketches strewn across the desk. Clothes littered the floor, and Pelo stooped to pick some of them up to throw in his laundry basket.
"Yeah. Sorry, I didn't expect company today." Pelo's clothes landed in the basket with a dull thump.
"It's fine. I don't mind." Orion bent to observe the drawings on the desk. There were hundreds of them, filled with faces, rooms, figures, and plants. It seemed as if Pelo drew everything. Orion wouldn't be surprised if he did.
Orion moved a wheely chair out from under the desk, and accidentally hit a painting with one of the wheels. The painting tilted, but Orion caught it before it hit the ground.
On it, a half-finished face peered out at him, a single blazing amber eye staring ahead. It wasn't finished, clearly, but it was still beautiful.
"Who's this?" Orion asked, turning himself and the painting towards Pelo.
The artist shrugged. "I don't know. Just somebody I found as a reference on a random site. I was doing a harsh lighting study. Nothing special."
Orion, not knowing much about art, didn't understand half the things Pelo was saying, but he nodded anyway. "I like it," he said.
If Orion wasn't staring at the painting, he would've seen Pelo blush while muttering a quiet "thanks."
—raven speaks!!
im so sorry this took so long to be updated... but here it is! i decided that some of the characters needed some one-on-one time, so here you go!
also, you guys got a hint to what the prank will be. any guesses?
