high rise hearts ☆ lifesteal smp au

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝟐 𝐒𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐋 ✧✯

𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: normal oneshot
𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: none
𝘁𝘄: n/a
𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆: N1lifestealfan
𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁: squiddo doesn't go to school anymore, but they still want to go back to school shopping. ash and minute do not want to go back to school shopping, but they drag them along anyways

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𝐏𝐎𝐕: none

Minute was driving today, because Squiddo couldn't drive, and because the look Ash was giving both of them indicated that if they put him behind the wheel they would very likely get involved in an accident on the highway. Now, they loved Ash (platonically, of course), but you couldn't exactly go shopping for school supplies if you were dead, right?
"Are we there yet?" Squiddo whined from where they sat beside Minute, peering out the side window and into the rearview mirror. Their reflection was that of a slightly distorted little girl, grinning as foolishly as always.
"Oh, be patient Squiddo." Minute jokingly admonishes, eyes not drifting away from the road for a moment. "The GPS says 2 minutes, you can wait."
"2 minutes too long." Ash grumbles from the back, where he's leaning on the side door and gazing out his own window. Squiddo knows he'd have liked to ride up front next to Minute, but 1) he'd probably try to snatch the steering wheel and cause a car crash and 2) they wanted to sit up front, because it was cool and why not? That's probably why he sounds so grumpy, actually.
"Oh, you'll be finee, Ash!" Squiddo leans over the back of their seat and parrots Minute's words to a very unamused Ash. He huffs and pushes his face closer to the window, pointedly not looking at Squiddo again. Minute, observing the scene through the rearview mirror, just chuckles and continues driving.

They're finally at Staples, and Minute is taking forever to find a parking spot. The entire lot is crowded with families trying to snag last minute school supplies, and they almost bump into at least 3 children. Squiddo scolds him each time it happens, because they're here to buy supplies and not run people over.
"Jeez, sorry-" Minute huffs after Squiddo chides him on paying attention for the third time. "Not my fault this lot is so crowded- if you want to do it better, learn how to drive."
"I don't need to learn how to drive, I'm saying you need to learn how to drive better!" They protest. "There's a difference, you know?" Minute just rolls his eyes and pulls into the empty spot he's been eyeing- it's pretty far from the entrance, but it isn't like there are any spots up there left. They've looked.
"Oh, thank god-" Ash shoves the door open the second Minute unlocks them, almost denting the car parked next to them with the force of it. "I've been sitting there for like an hour..."
"We're HEREE!" Squiddo cries, ignoring Ash's continued complaints and throwing their hands into the air like they're in some cheerleading sequence. "C'mon guys, the school supplies won't wait forever!"
"Yeah, come on Ash-" Minute steps out of the car- he's more gentle with the door compared to Ash. "And watch the doors..." he adds, eyes catching on the fresh new scrape on the neighboring car's paint.
"Whatever." Ash stalks off, pushing past Squiddo and towards the looming concrete building in the distance. He cuts in front of a car as he walks, earning him a dismayed honk from its driver.
"Ashhh! Be careful, you can't be getting run over today!" Squiddo runs to catch up with him, in the process also cutting in front of the car (which was just about to move forwards again) and making it honk another couple times. Minute, trailing behind both of them, is left the responsibility of apologizing to the miffed old lady.
They get to the entrance of the supply store with no further issues, and Squiddo spends a little too much time making the automatic sliding doors open and close before Minute drags them off. In their opinion, they should have at least gotten 5 more minutes.
"Squiddo, remember what we're here for..." Minute reminds them, pulling them by the wrist towards the colorful stationery isle. It takes them a minute to realize Ash isn't there. "Ash? Where'd he go-"
"Oh, he's over there!" Squiddo points to a cardboard display holding cheap sharpeners, where Ash is leaning against the display and scrolling through his phone. He looks like he's trying his best to hide behind the display, but being so tall makes it difficult for him, and Squiddo can see bits of his hair poking out  from behind the cardboard. Oh, and the display looks like it's about to fall over.
"Ash! You can't hide from us, silly," Squiddo chides him, pulling him by the arm out from the shadows and towards where Minute was already leaning against a beam, patiently waiting for them. "We have shopping to do!" Ash probably curses, and he's definitely struggling against their grasp, but Squiddo isn't paying attention, too busy pulling out their own phone and trying to locate the school supply list they were going off of.
"So what are we looking for first?" Minute asks them, flipping a plain black sketchbook back and forth between his hands. After a moment, he sets it back on the shelf next to some similar-looking sketchbooks.
"Uh- gimme a sec, I need to find the list-" Squiddo opens their camera app, and there it is- the school supply list they stole from some random middle school website. "Here- we need notebooks first, let's go find those!" They dart off towards the notebook section, forgetting that they were still clinging tightly to Ash and thus yanking him along, much to his dismay. "Oh- sorry Ash!"
"Dude, my arm is going to snap in half if you keep pulling me along like this-" Ash finally wrenches himself free from Squiddo's grip. He shakes out his sore wrist with a groan, but both Minute and Squiddo only laugh at him. His frown deepens, but he still follows them to where Squiddo's standing on her tiptoes, peering at the notebook selection.
"We need the spiral bound ones... do they have any with pretty covers here?" Squiddo pushes aside notebook after notebook, searching for one more interesting than solid red or blue. "Ugh, where do all the FUN notebooks go?"
"I mean, it is pretty late in the summer," Minute shrugs, glancing around the many shelves in search of other notebooks, but he doesn't seem to see any nearby. "They might be out of stock-"
"I REFUSE to believe that." Squiddo huffs, shoving aside another stack of notebooks. "There's gotte be some hiding around here somewhere... oh wait, I found one!" They reach into the mess of notebooks and pull out one with a fun plastic cover, patterned with stylized puppies. The second it's pulled out, it's pushed into Ash's face, and he has to bat it away with his hand to see it better. "Isn't it ADORABLE?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever-" Ash gets the notebook shoved into his face again, and he promptly pushes it away, harder this time. "Actually stop pushing it into my face-"
Minute saves him by pulling the notebook from Squiddo's hands, and he tucks it under his arm with a good-hearted chuckle. "Alright, how many more do we need?"
"Lemme check-" Squiddo opens up the list. "We already have one so... 2 more!" And then they're back to digging through the notebooks again. One of the books falls to the floor in the process, and Ash sighs and puts it back on the shelf.
"Are we getting a cart at any point, by the way?" he asks, glancing at Minute and Squiddo as they shove another notebook, this one themed with oranges on the front, into the other man's arms.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that-" The two notebooks are abruptly handed to him. "Stay here and watch Squiddo- I'll get us a cart." He's about to protest, but Minute is already gone, walking down the aisles towards the front of the store.
"Ugh, fine. Squiddo, are you done yet?" Ash turns to Squiddo, who still hasn't finished searching for the last notebook. They don't respond at first, too busy evidently, but soon enough they pop their head up from the pile of toppled papers, grinning wildly- in their hands is a final notebook, patterned with watercolor flowers.
"Found the last one! Here, look-" They wave the notebook in his face, and he grumbles complaints but takes it from them anyways. Squiddo starts putting the notebooks back in place- with the mess they've made, it'll take a year and a half to put them back to their original condition, but they're trying anyway. "Where's Minute gone, by the way?"
"Getting a cart-" Ash glances to the front of the store, where Minute is finally heading back, pushing a shopping cart along with him. "Oh, here he is. You took forever, by the way." He adds when Minute gets back.
"Dude, not my fault the front ran out of shopping carts," Minute huffs. "I had to walk out to the parking lot for some." He shoves the cart towards Ash, who gladly deposits the notebooks at the bottom.
"Ooh, can I ride in the cart?" Upon seeing the shopping cart, Squiddo rushes over and puts their hands on the side as if they're about to clamber over and inside. Minute starts laughing but doesn't move to pry them off- Ash has to do that instead.
"No Squiddo, you're a grown adult and there is zero need for you to be in there." He really isn't looking forward to pushing Squiddo around the Staples in a shopping cart, and he's relieved when Minute agrees with him too, shaking his head no with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I don't wanna risk breaking this thing." He laughs, rapping a fist against the slightly rusted metal mesh. It rattles loudly at the touch. "Alright, what's next on the list?"
"Aww..." Squiddo reluctantly moves away from the shopping cart and starts wandering down the aisle. "Pens! It says black or blue- I think they're this way!" They dart off, almost running into a mother and her kid, who were coming around the corner. Minute and Ash have to apologize again as they follow them, but soon enough they're standing in front of display after display of fancy pens.
"Which one should I get..." Squiddo thinks out loud while their friends catch up. "Ooh, maybe these!" They grab what looks to be a pack of 20 pens, all sparkly and different colors. The price listed is outrageous, far beyond what a normal person would look to spend on pens. But Squiddo is not a normal person- far from one, in fact.
Minute is quick to point this out: "Squiddo, that's like 50 dollars. You're broke." He grins a little as he says this- Squiddo has a tendency to spend their money on outrageous things like this, and that's the exact reason why they're currently in crushing debt.
"Wha-" Squiddo looks at the label attached, and the price is indeed 50 dollars. (Well, $49.99- still way too far out of their budget.) "Aw, darn it! I really liked these." They push the pack of pens back onto their respective hook, giving them one last wistful look before turning away.
"How about something cheaper? And less of an eyesore." Ash tosses Squiddo a small pack of plain black ballpoint pens, the cheap ones you find for free lying around offices. They never do seem to write well, and maybe that's why Squiddo wrinkles their nose once they catch sight of the pens inside.
"Oh, but these are BORING." Squiddo throws the pack back to Ash with such force that the package slaps him in the face before he can catch it. "Oh, oops! Sorry Ash!" Clearly Ash isn't any more pleased by the fact he's received an apology, but he bites back a retort and instead shoves the pens roughly back onto the hook.
"Whatever. You're too picky." He rolls his eye at them and walks off to find different pens.
Squiddo doesn't respond, electing to ignore him instead, and they prance off to inspect some other pens. Thankfully, these ones look cheaper- a pack of 5 multicolored gel pens. "Maybe these will work! It technically has blue and black in it..."
"I dunno-" Minute walks over from where he'd been looking through some displays, and he takes the package in his hands, turning it over to inspect the back of the packaging. The brightly colored cardboard shimmers in the synthetic Staples lighting. "I think they meant just blue and black..."
"Aw..." Squiddo sighs and somberly puts the pens back. The plastic clatters against the packs that are already hanging there. "Why's school got to be such a party pooper?"
"Eh, I think it's better you don't get colored ones. You'd doodle shit all over the walls." Ash grins, because all of them know it's true. Squiddo frowns at him, and their eyes spark with indignation from behind their thick tinted glasses.
"I would not! I have self-restraint, I swear!" Halfway through saying that, they break down into giggles, and so do Ash and Minute. "Okay, maybe a liiiittle. But I wouldn't make a mess!" They fake a pout, crossing their arms over their chest, huffing and turning away, marching towards the other end of the aisle.
"Hey, you still haven't bought anything yet-" Minute, still laughing and shaking his head, chases after them, grabbing a pack of decent-looking black pens along the way. "How about these? Not too expensive, good quality for the price-" Squiddo makes a show of walking right past him as if he isn't there, and he has to shove them in front of them before they pick it up.
"Hmm..." Squiddo turns the package around, once, twice, three times. "HmMMmmmMMMmM..." They make this noise for about 30 more seconds before Ash catches up and snatches the pens out of their hands to look at them himself.
"So are you buying them or what?" He interrupts Squiddo before they can protest, still flipping the pens around with one hand. He's obviously showing off- the pens are thrown a little way into the air, caught deftly between his fingers, then spun around. The cycle continues, and it would mesmerize a normal person, the way he did it. But not Squiddo- no, they completely ignore it.
"Sure, I guess!" Squiddo tosses the package carelessly behind them, attempting a trick shot, and it just barely misses the shopping cart. "Dang it! That would have been so cool if I'd made it..." Everyone laughs.

It takes a while, but they slowly but surely work their way through the supply list. Squiddo had somehow convinced Ash and Minute to let them buy all of the following items:
~ a ten pack of highlighters ("You only need 3..." Ash had complained. "Whatever, the more the merrier!" And in it went.)
~ a gigantic pack of Post-Its (the ones that turn into paper accordions when you pull them apart; Squiddo specifically requested them)
~ a colorful pack of mechanical pencils ("Because normal pencils are BOOOORING!")
~ a new backpack, patterned with orange and pink flowers (it was not cheap, but Squiddo begged so hard they got it anyway)
~ cool stickers (not even on the list, Squiddo just wanted them because they were there)
~ a floral pencil case (in entirely different colors than the backpack, but they really don't care)
~ wet wipes, strongly scented of citrus (Minute complained when Squiddo shoved them in his face to smell test them)
~ way too many boxes of Kleenex, bottles of hand sanitizer, and paper towels ("Well it's important to be generous! And hygienic, that too.")
They were now standing in the checkout line behind like 30 other people (not really, more like 7). Squiddo has weaseled their way into the cart, Ash is browsing his phone, and Minute is checking his watch repeatedly while sneaking glances at the customer currently at the register, who is taking five million years to unload their cart. Everything is silent, and therefore peaceful, at least until Squiddo decides to ruin it:
"Dude, why's this line taking so LONG? Hey, lady up front! Can you hurry it up over there?"
That's all it takes for everyone in line to turn around and start staring at them. Ash groans and buries his face in his hands, and Minute starts rapid-firing apologies, most of them towards the offended-looking lady, who he can now see has 5 kids running around her skirts.
"Oh wait, should I be apologizing?" Squiddo interrupts Minute's "I'm sorry"-spree to ask, and is given their answer when he elbows them in the gut as if to say well, duh. "Oops! Sorry, ma'am!" The lady only sighs, gives a nod of acknowledgement and goes back to scanning the other half of her cart. All the while, Ash holds his phone up in front of his face as if to hide from the entire scenario. What a day.

─── ⋅☆⋅ ───

𝗮/𝗻: i love this prompt but i know i didn't do it justice- i just randomly lost a lot of motivation + got caught up with real school... will probably try to remaster at some point lmao ☆ bk

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