Sleep Starve

Chapter 2

So here we go with chapter two! I'd like to thank you all (even though there's about three of you XD) for reading, and yeah!

The next morning was an onslaught of irritation  for Emil. It seemed as if he couldn't catch a single break. First, his dear older brother decided to throw a bucket of icy water over him to wake him up that morning, which resulted in him having to completely dismantle his bed so it could dry out.

Next, as he'd been running late after that, Emil had had to skip breakfast in order to get to the bus stop in time. Despite that, he nearly missed the bus and spent the ride awkwardly sitting next to a very loud, obnoxious albino who insisted that he must be 'copying his awesome look'. Emil in no way appreciated that comment and opted to ignore him to the best of his ability.

When they finally got to school, he was scolded by the teachers for his sloppy appearance. Again, he held his tongue, because the last time he'd mouthed off to a teacher... Well, it involved a very awkward conversation between him, Emil, and Lukas.

And when he got to his first period class, he found that he'd left his folder at home, which meant that he had a zero for every homework assignment due that day. Joy. And since his classmates were all very loud and annoying, he'd also gained a headache that grew worse throughout the morning.

By the time that lunch break rolled around, he was none too pleased. Then again, he hadn't been pleased to even get out of his bed that morning, so it wasn't as if it were a huge surprise. But still, when Emil slumped over to their normal table, it definitely didn't help his mood. By 'their', he meant his, Lukas, Mathias, Tino, and Berwald's table. Sometimes one of Tino's friends, Eduard, came to sit with them, but not often.

He happened to be the first one there that day, which Emil appreciated slightly. Emil laid his head on the table, using his arms as a cushion, content to enjoy the silence while it presented itself.

Unfortunately, the quiet was short lived.

Berwald and Tino arrived, then Mathias not too long afterwards. Mathias immediately started talking animatedly with Tino while Berwald looked on indifferently. Emil raised is head and glared weakly at him, but his gaze went unnoticed. As their conversation progressed, his glare got more intense, yet it still went unnoticed.

As soon as he sat down, Lukas raised an eyebrow at his brother. Sure, it wasn't that much of a stretch for Emil to be in a bad mood, or even sulking, but he'd never been so... snappish. After ten minutes or so of the others trying to engage him in conversation, Lukas was quite fed up with Emil's attitude.

"What, hormones acting up today?"

Emil turned towards Lukas slowly. It seemed as if he were busy processing what he'd said, but also trying to control himself. Because Lukas remembered the last time Emil had lost his temper, and the memory still brought a faint smirk to his face. Which was something that made his brother's blood boil.

Emil blew air through his teeth in irritation, ignoring his brother. He replaced his head on his arms.

Lukas frowned. That wasn't what he'd hoped to accomplish. He'd hoped that Emil would snap out of it, or even snap at him so that Lukas could show him that he was acting childish, but he hadn't. "You're acting  like the child you're always telling us you aren't," he muttered to himself.

Emil had heard him, and his shoulders tensed. He muttered something resembling 'shut up' into his arms, trying his hardest to contain himself. It wasn't easy, because for once Lukas seemed to be attempting to get him to snap. Well Emil wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

By the end of the period, Emil was no longer sulking in his arms, but instead glaring down at the table top. Tino and Berwald had long since noticed the youngest Nordic's bad mood and left him alone. Lukas had also stopped talking to him after his initial comments, which, while not annoying Emil further, wasn't really helping.

Unfortunately, Mathias did not have these important observation skills, and was continuously pushing his buttons. As he'd already been choked by Lukas that period for bothering him, Mathias had turned his attention to Emil. Currently, he was poking the other's shoulder, trying to get him to pay attention to him. "Hey. Emil. Emil. Emil. Heeeeey! Emil. Pay attention!"

Emil's eye twitched. Normally, he would've calmly told Mathias to stop and leave him alone by now. But today, Emil wasn't feeling quite that generous. Today, his tolerance levels were already trampled to sublevels. HIs eye began twitching. Tino noticed this and shifted nervously. He, too, remembered the last time that Emil had gotten that mad, and let's just say, it wasn't pretty.

As Mathias continued to drive his younger brother insane, Lukas sighed and pinched his nose. This was going to be bad.

Berwald was amused, though he seemed to be indifferent from his appearance. He was always up for a show, especially one involving Mathias.

And, none too surprisingly, Emil snapped. One particularly hard jab made his eye twitch particularly noticeably, and he went off.

Now, there were several different ways for Emil to express anger or annoyance. The first was close to how he was now, to become very uptight and snappish. Another was that he'd fly completely off the handle, yelling and sometimes even hitting. The most common was that he'd bottle up his emotions until he was alone, and then deal with them by himself. This time, he seemed to decide to carry on with the first option.

"Stop. Touching. Me." Emil snapped. His eyes narrowed further, and if looks could kill, Mathias would have long since been six feet under.

Mathias paled and pulled his hand back quickly, eyes wide.

Emil huffed and stood up, throwing away his lunch (which he hadn't touched at all) and stomping out of the cafeteria just as the bell rang.

The others sat for a few moments in stunned silence, which was broken by- you guessed it- Mathias. "What's his problem?"

Tino shrugged and Lukas remained silent, thinking.

"Maybe he didn't appreciate you being extra annoying today." Berwald mused dryly.

"Hey!"

Sort of a lame ending... But can you really blame me?! The Water Horse is playing on my TV... I feel inclined to watch.

Anyways, I would really love some help with the Nordics... Wait, that sounds wrong. Oh well. How did you guys think I did with writing them? I'm trying to stay as in character as possible, but I'd love feedback!