Not A P.E.I.P

Chapter 7: Owen

This may not have been a great idea.

At first, Owen was certain he'd be able to drown Junior out and go about setting up the house. He was annoying, but in a cute way. Like a chihuahua. He could handle that, right? Wrong. Instead, he was being followed around and pestered at every turn. Everything he did got twisted into an insult or jab of some kind. And Owen couldn't even yell at him to stop! The worst part was, he didn't even know for sure if he could get Junior his prize. And at this point, he was close to breaking. Thankfully, he'd managed to grab a book on the way out of their previous housing situation, and after tidying what he could of his room and belongs, sat down and started to read. That tended to relax him.

Of course, Junior was close behind with his barbed tongue. But Owen had a plan. Before Junior could even open his mouth, he gestured him over. The shorter of the two paused, seeming to be confused at the offer. But, none the less, he came over, looking quite suspicious of Owen. He just looked up, patting the seat next to him.
"Come here, I thought you'd enjoy this. It's a book that was around in my time, but it's about space exploration that's closer to yours. It's called Out Of The Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis."
Owen thanked his lucky stars that he'd picked a science fiction book. And, truth be told, he was curious, so this seemed like a win-win, if it went over smoothly.

Junior was quiet for a very long time, simply staring at Owen with narrowed eyes. But, he didn't say a thing, simply waiting for a response. It was with great hesitance that Junior sat down next to him, as far away as he could be while still reading the words. That was fine by Owen, he couldn't care less. He got him to shut up, finally. And so, he opened up the book and began to read.
"Let me know when you're finished so I can turn the page."
He quickly added, getting a vague grunt in response. And so it continued, from one page to another, until Junior burst out laughing.

Owen jolted in surprise, but pulled it together quickly enough that Junior didn't notice. It didn't count as losing the bet if he didn't see it. But, that wasn't the present matter, no no. Junior was laughing, a bright and happy sound. A little bit like a bird, but still. A nice laugh. Once he had calmed down enough to speak again, Junior noticed the confusion on Owen's face, which set loose another set of giggles before he could explain.
"Okay, so, that's what they're refering to the planet as? Malacandra? That's the name of a very small, very angry, but very harmless creature where I come from. Similar to your... Cars...?"
He seemed momentarily focused on finding the words. He didn't want to interrupt the brief peace they seemed to have reached, but decided to offer up a suggestion anyways.
"... Cats?"

Ah shit, Junior seemed to snap out of his happy place, realizing who he was with. The walls immediately went back up, and he shrugged noncommittaly. Great, just great. Owen sighed, opening up the book again, now expecting to be bombarded with insults and scathing remarks. Instead, he just got silence. He glanced over to see what was up with that, to find Junior reading intently. Huh, okay. He doesn't hate him enough to completely tear him to shreds over his simple existence. Cool, note that. And so, for a while longer, they read in silence, with only the occasional nudge from Junior to turn the page. It was... Strangely nice.

Neither of them quite knew when or how it happened, but they slowly ended up closer and closer together, likely because Junior couldn't see from a distance. But, they now sat shoulder to shoulder, Junior slightly leaned up against Owen as they read in silence. Come to think of it, Junior was actually pretty nice when he wasn't being a huge dick. So basically, if he shut his mouth, he'd be a cool dude. And though he hated to admit it, it was nice to be this close to someone again. Sure, he was the annoying little Sun Spot, but when you're touch starved, you take what you can.

And there they sat, quietly reading, until Sophia interrupted the silence by smacking a spoon on the side of a pot, making an ear splitting mix of loud thumping and metal screeching. Both men instinctively covered their ears, wincing as she yelled something about dinner. When the noise died down, and they felt safe to take their hands off their ears, there was an immediate reaction from Junior, jumping away from Owen like he'd been burned. Oh great, here we go...
"... I'm gonna borrow the book tonight. I'll keep your place in it."
He then stifly headed to the kitchen, leaving Owen time to think.

Why was he disappointed that Junior was going to keep reading without him...? Whatever, he was right to feel that way. The jerk was probably just going to hoard the book to himself. Yeah, that's it. The nerve of that guy, he knew exactly how to get under Owen's skin! Ugh, whatever. He recomposed himself quickly, before heading over to the table, leaving the book marked on their page.

This bet was gonna suck.