. . .
"Cut me some slack, okay? I've never had a brother before and am still learning how this thing works."
—William Veil... probably.
. . .
William glanced up with a frown, "Your what?"
"My strawberry milk! It's gone!" Alastor cried as he sharply wrenched himself off of the fridge, not even reacting when he bumped his head on the top. Then, he whirled around to glare at William, "Who the fuck stole my drink?!" Alastor fumed, his booming voice practically an echoing thunder in the room.
Moments like this, whenever Alastor's admittedly short temper blows off the lid, instantly reminds William of the fact that for all the former Alpha of the Northern pack being a surprisingly good company (and a good baker; man, that ice cream cake was divine), Alastor Nyx was still the kind of guy you most certainly, would definitely not want as an enemy.
Even if it's over a gods damned strawberry milk.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
"Uh... but it wasn't me?" William tried as he hurriedly paused his anime. Wouldn't want to miss a single scene, after all. Then, he raised his bottle of apple juice and waves it pointedly in Alastor's direction, "You know I have this, right?"
"Well, sure, but if it's not you then WHO?!"
"Look man, I don't know!"
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?!"
"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?" William demanded as he threw his arms up in exasperation, "I LEGIT DON'T KNOW!"
Had the two of them not been screaming their heads off, they would have definitely heard (or in Alastor's case, had he paid attention) a soft thud resounding somewhere in Winters' room, like a book dropping, as Alastor jabbed an accusing finger in William's direction:
"That's real sus, buddy!" Alastor seethes, "You're our resident sweet tooth here. Don't you lie to my face. What have you done to my strawberry milk?!"
"And I'm telling you it wasn't me!"
"If not you, then who?!"
"I don't know, maybe Winters did it?!"
"Don't you dare drag your sister into this–"
As if summoned, Winters suddenly cleared her throat, making the two of them pause to look at her standing by the doorway. They didn't even hear her move. And William can feel his face instantly turning flat as he pointedly stared at her.
What was that saying again?
Oh, right.
Speak of devil and she shall appear.
"I happen to overhear your... conversation just now," Winters began after a moment of awkward silence because her sudden appearance has curbed Alastor's angry tongue.
Fucking simp.
William deadpans, "It was you, wasn't it?"
She briefly ducks her head at that, as if thoroughly chastised... which was fair, really. Shame on her, dad sure as hell didn't raise a thief.
Snorting at the thought, William raised his brows expectantly at Alastor's direction, awaiting the judge's verdict, but much to his surprise (and William has to briefly wonder to himself why the hell was he even surprised), the werewolf only rubbed the back of his neck, his expression turning a bit sheepish.
"Ah, no, no... it's all-good, Winters," Alastor was saying as he gently closed the fridge behind him, "I can always just go get myself another one. You want me to buy you some for later, too?"
Winters shifted a bit in place, "If it's alright..."
"It's fine," he says, smiling brightly at her, all traces of anger gone. As in, poof. "Hey, you up for ice cream today? I just saw this article from online about this cute shoppe and I've been meaning to visit the place sometime soon. Do you wanna come with?"
Wow, William thought, eyeing the werewolf as he easily handled the underworld's prickliest goddess with well-deserved respect, smooth.
"I'm... busy..." Winters mumbled.
...aaaaand not so smooth.
"Oh, I see. That's okay..." William could almost applaud Alastor for trying not to appear too disappointed at that, the only indication of the werewolf's dismay was the brief wobbling of his smile, the way his eyes grow a tad dimmer. "Perhaps another time?"
William swears his eyebrows are as high as physically possible as he silently watched this interaction. Forget about the anime, watching these two dancing around each other is entertaining as is.
Soap opera material, right there.
But still...
His eyes narrowed at Winters.
Sometimes, his sister can be so stupid.
An opportunity presents itself and she wouldn't even try to grab it! And it's not like William could ever dare to say no to free ice cream, anyway. Only idiots did that.
Well, that, and it's payback time.
"Hey, you sure you don't have the time?" he calls before Winters could turn and walk away from this. Because like hell William's going to be stuck babysitting Alastor with that kicked-puppy look on his face for the entire day.
No way, Jose.
"It's just for a few minutes, anyway," William complains, before gesturing to Alastor, "... and you kind of owe Al here."
Winters paused, glancing down at him, then at Alastor. Her gaze was clearly questioning. "Ah, Winters, no. It's okay. Hey, kid, I just said it's okay–!"
Oh, wonderful.
William's not stuck with one but two idiots.
"—he needs that ice cream after you stole his drink. Al is in dire need of a pick-me-up food!" William yells, raising his voice over Alastor's.
Alastor blanches, "No, I don't–!"
William scowled over at his moronic, half-hearted protests. "Look, pal. I may not look like it, but I'm actually trying to help you out here. So, are you with me or against me? Do you want ice cream or not?"
