Mood Ring // Starrison

1

"Post! Fresh in, come get it whilst it's hot!" Mal ignored the loud snoring from John napping on the sofa as he made his way around the room whilst carrying stacks of letters.

He handed the first stack to Paul, who took it gratefully with a polite thank you and eyed it up before ripping the letters open, smiling wildly. Mal placed the second stack next to George, who blushed profusely and gave Mal a small smile in return. Grinning, Mal dumped the third stack onto John's lap, causing him to jump out of a peaceful slumber with a yell. Finally Mal reached Ringo, who took his stack and placed it next to him so he could read the letters properly later.

"Right, I'm off lads. You all know where I am if you need any of us. Night!" Mal sauntered out of the suite, hearing four intertwining goodnights following him as he shut the door and made his way to his room.

"Oi, what's this?" Paul questioned as he pulled a ring out of the envelope. "Lads?"

"Maybe they got you mixed up with Ringo?" George suggested, shrugging his shoulders and joining the other three men who were now surrounding Paul on the sofa. "Wait, you dropped something." He handed a piece of card to Paul and looked at the ring in confusion.

Mood Ring:
A fun way to find out your true emotions! Test on your family or friends to discover what they're really feeling!
Black = Stressed
Red = Lust
Yellow = Happy
Orange = Calm
Light Green = Mixed Emotions
Light Blue = Nervous
Turquoise = Crushing
Dark Green = Love
Dark Blue = Jealous
Pink = Sad

"How odd." John muttered, half to himself and half to the other men. "'Ere Paul, try it on for size."

Paul placed the ring on his index finger, his gaze fixed intently on the swirl of colours inside of it. He gasped when it landed on a colour, light blue. "No surprise there really. Go on, you have a go Johnny." He took the ring off his finger and chucked it at John, who put it on with a chuckle.

The men watched the colours change and looked stunned when it stopped and the ring turned black. "Why's it done that then? I'm feeling perfectly fine!" John protested, shoving the ring off his finger and back at Paul. "You can have your stupid ring, s'bloody ugly anyroad."

Smirking, Paul took the ring with the card and handed it to Ringo. "There you go Rings, you can have this. I'd rather not, y'know? Besides, it adds to your collection!" Ringo took the ring and smiled, more focused on the ring than his actual surroundings.

"Bloody sorcery that is..." John muttered under his breath as he stood up and headed towards his room, not bothering to say goodnight. Paul shortly got up and followed him, a puzzled look on his face.

The two remaining men heard the bedroom door shut and muffled voices, which they took as a hint to stay up for a bit longer. George shuffled around, picking up his guitar and playing chords mindlessly. Ringo placed the ring on his index finger and procured a cigarette from inside his jacket, which he proceeded to light and inhale from greedily.

George looked up from his guitar to meet Ringo's stare before casting his eyes onto the ring and watching as it turned turquoise. Struggling to remember which emotion it represented, he waited until Ringo looked away before grabbing the card sneakily and confirming his suspicions. Turquoise means crushing, he thought, but on who?

Ringo looked down at his finger, the turquoise gleaming brilliantly and then looked up at his friend. Noticing George was holding the card, he blushed and slipped the ring off his finger and into his pocket. Please say he doesn't know, his mind pleaded.

"Oi, you alright Ritchie?" George asked hesitantly, noticing how his friend was shrinking in on himself.

"Yeah, cheers pal." Ringo responded in a clipped tone, praying that the other man didn't notice how flustered he was. "S'pose we can stay up for a bit, eh? Might as well make the most of it." He stood up to grab a bottle of whisky, before collapsing onto the sofa next to George and taking a swig out of it. "You want any?"

"Sure mate. Cheers." George took the bottle from his friend's hand gratefully, ignoring the sparks he felt as their fingers brushed slightly and downed a quarter of it. With his face scrunched up in disgust, he handed the bottle to his friend with a splutter.

"Cor, that ain't half strong pal!" He coughed, his heart fluttering as he felt Ringo rub his back soothingly.

"You alright there? 'Ere I'll take that." Ringo took the bottle out of George's grip, concern filling his eyes. "Though if you wanted to get hammered, you should've said so earlier and we could've gone out together."

"Cheers mate. I dunno really, I felt more like staying in and drinking rather than going out. We should probably head to bed now though, those two have been quiet for a bit." George suggested, glaring at the door to John and Paul's room whilst praying that they were actually sleeping in there and not, y'know, doing anything else.

"Yeah, fair enough. C'mon then pal." Ringo swiftly got onto his feet and held a hand out for George.

George took the outstretched hand and was dragged to his feet. Reluctantly, he made his way towards his and Ringo's room. Ringo, with cheeks as pink as candy floss, entered behind him and closed the door behind them.

"Uh, George?"

"Yeah?"

"You've still got my hand."

"Shit. Sorry mate." George dropped Ringo's hand in an instant and tried to ignore how empty his own felt.

The two men shuffled around the room for a bit, chucking pyjamas and pillows at one another playfully, before getting into the double bed. George, on the left side, moved as far away from the other man as he could. He couldn't be seen as queer, he wasn't.

"Hey, Geo."

"Yeah, Ritchie?"

"Why are you so far away?"

"Oh, am I?"

"Yeah, come closer. You can't be comfortable over there."

"S'alright, I'm fine."

"C'mon."

"Okay." Huffing, George moved closer to his mate and desperately tried to avoid all queer thoughts. I'm not queer, he thought, just because I think Ringo is beautiful. It doesn't mean anything. Rolling over onto his back, he moved his head to the side so he could admire Ringo.

Ringo, aware of another pair of eyes on him, stayed very still and kept his eyes closed. Just because he's looking at me doesn't mean he likes me, he thought. He moved his arm so it was pressing further into George's.

"Oi, you sure you're alright?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Honest. Just tired, y'know?"

"Me too. Night Geo."

"Night Ritchie."

George rolled back onto his side and watched as Ringo closed his eyes before falling into a deep sleep. Damn, he thought, he's adorable. He knew it was wrong to think so but he couldn't help it, the sleeping man in front of him was indeed adorable. He closed his eyes and felt his brain begin to shut off, his last coherent thought being of the colour turquoise and what it could possibly mean.