Junkyard Bastion

Will it Ever Go Away?

<Zeriah's POV><2:34pm>

I'm sure Orion and Beck fell asleep. I'm hoping they didn't notice. I wipe away any tears that might've stuck onto my face and I sigh softly, turn over to hug the two stupid but really awesome weirdos I call my friends. Luckily I'm tall enough for my arms to reach other both for them.

I rest my chin on Becks head, and he twitches. I never really noticed but he does that a lot when he sleeps. Orion snores against Becketts back. I look over to Wes, he seems to be asleep.

I hug the two a little tighter.

<Orions POV>

I can't tell if Zeriah's trying to crush or hug us. Does he even know how strong he is? I shift a bit, my face against Becks back. I'm kinda grateful there's only one mattress, it's cozy and warm with these two. Beckett's probably burning up in the middle though. I shift a bit and I place a hand on Beckett's forehead, he seems to be fine.

"You awake?" Zeriah props himself up with his elbow, and he looks at me. "Yeah." I pause for a moment, "Is it awkward?"
"What?"
"Sleeping with Beck."
"Huh?" He comes closer to me, and I feel a bit dumb for forgetting that he's almost deaf. I lean over, and I speak near his ear, "Is it awkward to sleep cuddling next to Beck after uh... the situation?"

"I'm over him honestly," He ruffles Beck's hair, tilting his head a bit to the side. "...Not really, actually." He pulls his hand away. "What do you like about him..?" Zeriah gives me a look. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just curious."

"He's always been very resilient, and he's very sweet," He smiles to himself, "He's also pretty good looking. Well built." His smile drops and he looks away, clearly embarrassed.
"That was probably a little TMI, huh?"
"No it's ok. I think Becks pretty too."
He gives me surprised look, I thought I had made it obvious?
"You think he's pretty?"
"Yeah, I don't like him romantically though."
His confused expression drops. "Ohh."

"I love you both though, don't get me wrong."
Zeriah smiles at me, "Love you too man." Beckett moves under my arm and I look down. He shifts again and lays on his back to look at Zeriah and I, hovering over him. "You guys just love watching me sleep huh?" He says with sarcastic disgust. I chuckle, hugging Beckett.

"You're cutting off my circulation.." He inhales sharply. I release the hug and he pats my shoulder, smiling. "I'm kinda bored." Zeriah speaks up, and now that I think about it, I'm kinda bored too. We all sit up, contemplating on what to do.

"You guys wanna go downstairs and see whoever used to live here had board games or something?" Beckett suddenly speaks up.
"Aren't we supposed to stay up here though?" I ask, looking at Beck.
"Me and Zeriah are good fighters, if worse comes to worst. But everything's barricaded, so we should be fine."
"We should still lay low though, some mutants have crazy good hearing." Zeriah shivers, and it's clear it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Should we ask Wes first?" I ask Beckett.
"Yeah, he's responsible for us anyway. Can't afford to be reckless in a time like this." He says, getting up and stretching before walking over to Wes, he crouched over the sleeping man and shakes him by the shoulder.

Wesley looks over to Beck, flinches but eases quickly. "Sorry kid. I forgot you didn't have that arm." Beckett chuckles. "You mind if we scavenge the house for board games? We're bored." Wes sits up, and hands him a switch blade. "Sure but lay low and be careful, bring me a snack if there's any." He waves Beckett off and lies back down.

Beck goes over to his arm and screws it back on, crouching next to the attic entrance. "Cmon guys," he waves us over and we get up, going down the ladder Beck put down.

<Beckett's POV> <3:13pm>

Climbing down the ladder with one arm (My prosthetic is a bit stiff right now), I walk around the house, the two following behind me. "Go check those cabinets, me and Zeriah with check the rooms." Orion stares at me wide eyed. "Did you not see me get violently assaulted by a giant fucking beetle earlier?" He fake shivers, "never again." Understandable I guess.

"Alright. I'll check the rooms, Zeriah can protect you." I lean over to Zeriah, telling him what to do, and he nods. I venture off into one of the rooms, I open the doors and I look at the remains of a babies room. I walk slowly to the crib, which used to be the bed for this poor kid and I sigh. Something clicks behind me and I turn around, the switch blade clutched in my fist.

Is that the same bug I just threw out? It crawls at me and I kick it out of pure instinct, it lets out a loud squeak and kicks it legs as it falls on its back. Feeling slightly bad, I kneel over and I flip the beetle back over, and it circles me. Did I just become a bug father? I don't want to be one but..

...

"Hey guys look at my new friend!" I grab the  beetle and I hold it up, it's wings pop out. I forgot that Orion wasn't very fond of bugs, reminded by the gasp he made, hiding behind Zeriah after. "Beckett..."
"I know it's a little weird but look, I taught it a trick." I throw the blade across the house, (carpet luckily), and it picked it up, bringing it back to me.

"See? I think beetle is nice."
"Get that thing out of the house before I stomp on it." Orion says with pure fear lacing his voice.
"Fine. But it might come back, how else do you think I found beetle?"
"Beetle??"
"Yeah, I couldn't really think of a good name for beetle..."

"Beckett it's nice and all but are you sure you want a giant scarab- whatever that thing is as a pet?" Zeriah looks at me confused but slightly supportive.
"Absolutely."

...

Me, Zeriah and Orion sit on a circle, hunched over a game of monopoly. Wesley leans against a pillar, chewing on the granola bar I found for him. "5 to the... What the fuck?" Zeriah leans in closer to the board "Jail?" He looks at the board in disbelief, then at us as if we could change it.

"Roll the same number... on both die to escape uh.." Orion reads it again slowly. Zeriah rolls a double first try, and he throws a bunch of 1 dollar bills at us for a reason I cannot name. "Beck, your roll." Zeriah hands me the dice, I land 7, straight onto a apartment owned by Zeriah. "Uh.. what happens if I don't have enough money to pay you?"

"Find a way?"
"Orion would you donate to the poor?" I give him my best pleading look. "Hell no you brokie?" He holds his fake dollars to his chest tightly.
I sigh, turning back to Zeriah. "What now?"
"Wes, what should Beck do to pay his rent to me?"
"Make him do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't include going out the house." I sign to Zeriah what he says, and he nods.

...

He turns to Orion, then turns to gives me a small smirk. "I think I know what I want from you."