Gustholomule <3 fluff

a winter game

— — — —

Gus isn't stressing.

Sure, he's a little worried about how Matty has read all of his texts but not responded. And yeah, he's a tiny bit worried about how Matty stormed out of the sleepover. And, okay, he's kind of worried about how all he's thought about in the past two days is Matty.

But he's not stressing. At least he wasn't until he saw Mattholomule at lunch.

Gus was sitting at his table with Willow, Luz, and Amity, looking around for the boy when he finally spotted him.

Mattholomule isn't the most put-together person. He always seemed to be a little loose at the end, but together enough that he's not completely off the deep end. Today, however, he sat hunched over his lunch tray, sipping mindlessly at some apple blood. His sleeves were rolled up and he leaned on one of his hands, staring at the table in front of him as though there were no thoughts in his mind.

"Gus?" Willow asked, glasses reflecting the light sunlight seeping through the window panes.

"Sorry, what?" Gus zones back into the conversation, his mind being... elsewhere.

"I asked if you were coming to flyer derby practice today. You were sick last time, so we really need you to catch up," She said, taking a bite out of the questionable sandwich that was laying on her tray.

"Oh, yeah I'm coming," He smiled, stirring the soup his dad packed him with a spoon.

"Great! Viney made some good game plans for this weekend's game, I think we might be able to win this time!"

"Oh, c'mon Willow, you lost one game," Amity said, Willow scoffing in return.

"Yeah, by 15 points! We're so low on the scoreboard you can just give us participation trophies and call it a season."

"No way! The Emerald Entrails are winners! Winners I tell you!!" Luz pumped her fists in the air, imitating the sounds of a cheering crowd.

Willow's cheeks grew a light pink, "Thanks guys, but I'm serious, our gameplay has to be perfect!"

— —

The bell just rang for Gus's fourth period class, and he's trying to squeeze his way out the door. He finally got through, glaring at the grudgby boys that shoved him into the middle of the hall. He turned to head to his next class, thanking the Titan he didn't have to sit through another minute of Miss Jenkinmeyer's class. She's a good teacher, but her talking for almost an hour is boring.

Gus's eyes caught on a wisp of brown hair covered by a hood, his thoughts immediately locked onto Mattholomule. [more?]

"Hey!" He said without thinking. "Matty!"

He ran towards the boy. Gus grabbed onto his shoulder, twisting him around.

A strange and unfamiliar face met Gus's, their eyebrows creased in confusion. [more?]

"Uhh... sorry, I thought you were one of my friends," Gus coughed, face flushing.

The stranger nodded slowly, lips pursed. They turned and walked away as Gus hid his face in his hands, cheeks burning.

"Titan, I'm stupid," He muttered.

"Yeah, you are pretty stupid," A smug voice chimed, Gus's ears perking up at the sound. He lifted his head out of his palms to meet eyes with Mattholomule.

"Oh no... did you see that?" Gus whined, walking over shamefully.

"Every hilarious second, Agustus" Matty sneered in Gus's face, smirking up at him.