Seasons of Youth (RotBTFD)

Spring ✿ Part 4

"DIE!" Merida yells.

"Merida, leave those guys! I need cover!" Hiro pleads, but she doesn't listen.

"Crumble before me, scum!" she furiously presses the buttons.

"No!"

Game Over appears on the screen.

"Wha?!" Merida rises from the common room's couch. "How did that happen?!"

"It's a game of strategy, not brute force. And it's supposed to be played in teams..." Hiro sighs. "I had the magic stone, you only had to cover me until I reached the other side, but you were too busy lashing out at the other team to help me so..."

"This game sucks", she crashes back on the couch. "What are you all looking at?"

Around them, all the boys in the dorm were staring at her.

"You're a girl..." Hiro patiently presses a button and the game gets back to the home screen. "And these are the boys' dorms."

"Aw, come on, it's just the common room.", she says to everyone, "And if any of you tell on me, I'm gonna hit you so hard you won't remember your own name, so back off."

The boys immediately scramble away from the room, leaving Hiro and Merida in front of the TV.

"Don't worry, no one's gonna tell. You are almost as scary as that blonde from Senior year."

"Almost? Whoever she is, we're gonna have a serious conversation, me and her", she smiles mischievously.

"Even so, you should get ready to duck beneath the couch in case the janitor shows up", he presses play and they get back to the game.

"I'll be careful. I'm not in any rush to see Dean Black again any time soon. But I sorta don't wanna get back to my room either..."

"What's wrong with your room?"

"Nothing's wrong with my room. My roommate on the other hand..."

"What's wrong with your roommate, then?"

"She's a pain."

"Who's a pain?", says a voice from behind the couch.

They both jump up and turn. Behind them, the TV screen shows Game Over again.

Jack is leaning against the door.

"Jack!", Merida lets out her breath in relief "You scared us half to death!"

"I wonder why that keeps happening..."

"Maybe 'cause you're light-footed and no one can ever hear you. We should tie a bell around your neck and see if that fixes this problem up."

"Whoa, Meri" Jack approaches and sits on the couch. "What's with all this hostility?", he looks at Hiro for an answer.

"Her roommate, apparently, is stressing her out" Hiro explains.

"She's just... so... UH!" Merida collapses by Jack's side and lets out a long sigh. "That's Hiro, by the way. Hiro, this is Jack."

"I think we've bumped into each other before" Hiro says, taking a sit by their side.

"What're you guys playing?" Jask asks.

"How about something with lots of shooting?" Hiro turns to Merida.

"That's a great idea." Jack picks up a controller. "This way Meri can tell us all about the annoying roommate and we can come up with a plan to get her in trouble", he smiles.