Redwoods; Sleepyboisinc angst

100 degrees (or 40 if you're not American)

The whole thing was overwhelming blinding.

Phil laughed and covered his eyes with his hands. "It's not fun, mate. Not fun. Techno says he's fine but you have tah be feeling shit. It's awful, yeah?"

Wilbur laughed too. "Yeah, it's pretty shit. But this is pretty neat so I guess it's worth it." Phil nodded, "It is pretty poggers."

They went quiet for all of three seconds. The moment of silence that fell between them as they looked at the painfully peaceful scene was shattered by an annoying child and an aggravated English major.

"Tommy. Please. I'm begging you to stop." "G-H-O-T-I spells fish." "Ahhhhhhhhh"

The newly 22 year old ran around the car with his hands over his ears. He was followed by a speed walking Brit who kept saying FISH in a voice only younger siblings can master.

Ghoti spells fish? Oh! Wilbur had seen this meme. He knew this joke. He could annoy Techno too! He followed the pair in circles around the car, repeating fish loud enough to compete with Tommy.

Phil watched the growing chaos with the level of tired eyes only a dad can master. "Guys, people are staring."

Tommy stopped. Wilbur and Techno didn't. He looked at them while laughing. Looking down at himself and then at Philza he said, "Uh yeah, we didn't change from yesterday. I'm still in heels and a skirt, you have messy eyeliner, Techno is pink, and we're yelling fish. People are gonna stare."

Wilbur stopped chasing Techno and joined the conversation. "You guys didn't wash your face last night??? Why the fuck would you not?"

"Didn't wanna," Techno replied while circling back to the others. "Wanna go to the lake out there?"

Phil and Wilbur nodded, Tommy groaned. "It's so hot out here! And I'm still in heels!" Wilbur scoffed. "You can change you shoes, and you have the least layers of us all." "But I'm tired. And it's hot." "And you're such a child."

Tommy whined and stomped his feet dramatically. Then he huffed and took the lead walking to the path. The others laughed as they followed behind him.

——————

The lake was very far away. Less than a mile, but it was hot and they hadn't actually gotten great sleep.

During the borderline miserable walk, three things happened. One, Techno got very subdued and kept zoning out. Two, Tommy seemed extra on edge, as if the states were starting to catch up to him. And three, Wilbur noticed both. Phil likely did too, but neither commented on it.

"I'm starting to think we should head back, it's farther than it looked," Wil said. Tommy nervously glanced at the people around them and muttered agreements. Techno hadn't heard.

Phil slung his arm around Techno's shoulders. "What'd'ya say mate? I think the all black is starting to get to me, and flip flops can't be comfortable for you." Techno snapped his head up to look at the stopped group. He nodded quickly and looked down.

Somethings wrong. Wilbur didn't think you needed to be especially perceptive to tell there was a change in atmosphere. Maybe he just got lost in thoughts while we were silently walking?

Either way he was not a fan of the stressed and depressed vibe that was starting to pull at him. He needed to cheer up his friends or they'd all be stuck in an unhappy place. If he was being honest with himself he'd recognize that the wheel of coping mechanisms he spins every once in a while had landed on avoidance. But back to cheering up. How to cheer up? Be funny of course!

...

How does one be funny? Intentionally?

"Hey uh, Phil!"
"Hmm?"
"Got any jokes?"
"What?"