CURRENT.ly - Mystery Kids AU

2- The Intimation To Come

• • • ♧ • • •

School could be a nuisance at times, but there was two things that always made Norman feel better: a good video game match or a hardcore marathon of mediocre scary movies.

Just something to get the blood pumping a bit faster than usual.
So it was no wonder that once friday arrived, Neil had set the whole scenario up, with pillows on the side for comfort of the loser or the occasional swing at someone's eyeball to throw them off their winning streak.

Once there were no more classes for the day and all the students in the school had rushed out on their own accord, either gently or a shouting mess longing for the weekend, the boys took it upon themselves to gear up for the game showdown with a crappy and mostly sarcastic pep talk to get their inspiration going, and a small intake of sugar, provided by gummy worms, the last ones bought at Blithe's Quality Market, and always bittersweet.

It used to be marshmallows, but puberty had seemed to hit them with the fact that 'sickening sweet' was a thing now. The red headed friend was certainly not pleased about it.

They walked the distance, reaching the younger boy's house with some relief.
Neil always made sure to ring the bell first, some sort of punishment he placed upon his older brother in the name of sibling nuisances, and more often than not, Mitch would appear downstairs with an annoyed expression, meaning that Neil's old trick worked its magic.

"Hey Mitch! Aren't you glad to see your favourite little brother in the world?" Neil would pull his fake innocence card, mix it up with some sort of smug look and obvious enjoyment, and that was how the moment always ended in a laugh for him.

"Hahaha, funny." Mitch would roll his eyes, not exactly bothered but not exactly thrilled either. "Get your butts inside, and don't get snow on the carpet, or else mom will kill you." He pointed to his brother.

"Hey Mitch." Norman greeted, passing him by, always receiving either an aknowledging nod or a quick wave.

They would slip inside, and spend almost four full minutes wiping the bottom of their shoes on the welcome mat right by the door, a way just to make sure they weren't breaking any holy hygiene law of the house residents.
And after that, they would make a straight line towards the living room, where their spirits would be crushed.

School bags would just lie on the corner, completely ignored, and as for the undone honework, the only thing that would be present to it was the middle finger.

It was nice to have that moment for themselves. Neil's mom didn't usually come home very early, and Mitch would much rather avoid the young teens by escaping the house or hiding in his room upstairs.
Too lousy and annoying.

Norman didn't blame him, it was just too great when Neil began his loud celebration rituals with weird sing-songs, Norman joining in sometimes, at least until things got out of control, both their voices ending up cracking horribly.

That day however, after a few rounds of Beat'em Up Morbid, Norman decided he'd share a piece of his mind with thankfully the only other soul in the room.

"Wait, I've got something to show you." He announced, getting up.

The controller was left on the ground, no shame on that, and he walked to his backpack.
The next round was just a click away, but for the sake of the moment, the game was discarded aside to rest its circuits.

"What is it?" The red haired boy asked.

Norman searched his bag, hands latching on to a small hard cover note book. Old, worn, and dusty, the thing was a reddish brown, much like the tree trunks that survived in the woods near the house it came from.
Setting the bag aside, the boy let it lay there on his lap for a minute after he sat back down, stiff hands curled around the object. For a moment, he hesitated, eyes peering to the floor in front of him before returning to the book.