— — — —
Gus isn't stressing.
Sure, he's a little worried about how Matty has read all of his texts but not responded. And yeah, he's a tiny bit worried about how Matty stormed out of the sleepover. And, okay, he's kind of worried about how all he's thought about in the past two days is Matty.
But he's not stressing. At least he wasn't until he saw Mattholomule at lunch.
Gus was sitting at his table with Willow, Luz, and Amity, looking around for the boy when he finally spotted him.
Mattholomule isn't the most put-together person. He always seemed to be a little loose at the end, but together enough that he's not completely off the deep end. Today, however, he sat hunched over his lunch tray, sipping mindlessly at some apple blood. His sleeves were rolled up and he leaned on one of his hands, staring at the table in front of him as though there were no thoughts in his mind.
"Gus?" Willow asked, glasses reflecting the light sunlight seeping through the window panes.
"Sorry, what?" Gus zones back into the conversation, his mind being... elsewhere.
"I asked if you were coming to flyer derby practice today. You were sick last time, so we really need you to catch up," She said, taking a bite out of the questionable sandwich that was laying on her tray.
"Oh, yeah I'm coming," He smiled, stirring the soup his dad packed him with a spoon.
"Great! Viney made some good game plans for this weekend's game, I think we might be able to win this time!"
"Oh, c'mon Willow, you lost one game," Amity said, Willow scoffing in return.
"Yeah, by 15 points! We're so low on the scoreboard you can just give us participation trophies and call it a season."
"No way! The Emerald Entrails are winners! Winners I tell you!!" Luz pumped her fists in the air, imitating the sounds of a cheering crowd.
Willow's cheeks grew a light pink, "Thanks guys, but I'm serious, our gameplay has to be perfect!"
— —
The bell just rang for Gus's fourth period class, and he's trying to squeeze his way out the door. He finally got through, glaring at the grudgby boys that shoved him into the middle of the hall. He turned to head to his next class, thanking the Titan he didn't have to sit through another minute of Miss Jenkinmeyer's class. She's a good teacher, but her talking for almost an hour is boring.
Gus's eyes caught on a wisp of brown hair covered by a hood, his thoughts immediately locked onto Mattholomule. [more?]
"Hey!" He said without thinking. "Matty!"
He ran towards the boy. Gus grabbed onto his shoulder, twisting him around.
A strange and unfamiliar face met Gus's, their eyebrows creased in confusion. [more?]
"Uhh... sorry, I thought you were one of my friends," Gus coughed, face flushing.
The stranger nodded slowly, lips pursed. They turned and walked away as Gus hid his face in his hands, cheeks burning.
"Titan, I'm stupid," He muttered.
"Yeah, you are pretty stupid," A smug voice chimed, Gus's ears perking up at the sound. He lifted his head out of his palms to meet eyes with Mattholomule.
"Oh no... did you see that?" Gus whined, walking over shamefully.
"Every hilarious second, Agustus" Matty sneered in Gus's face, smirking up at him.
"I hate you."
"Do you though?"
"Yes."
Matty's gaze faltered, glancing down at his feet before leaning back against his locker. Titan, did he take that personally?
"Hey, uhh, do you wanna come to the graveyard this weekend? I'm completely free," Gus shrugged, leaning against the lockers with him.
Mattholomule fiddled with his nails, mulling over a response in his head. "I guess, sure. Can't give you all the credit."
"Great! Fantastic! I'll see you there, Matty," Gus smirked down at the boy, walking away backwards while shooting him finger guns (something Luz had taught him, it's how human's look cool).
— —
Gus opened the door to his house, dropping his bag on the floor.
"Gus?" His father's voice called out from the kitchen.
"Hey Dad," He walked into the room, seeing his father trying to cut up a firefruit. He was wearing heat-protective gloves and goggles. The fruit was smoking, getting ready to spew a beam of fire as soon as the knife tried to puncture the skin.
"How was school?" Perry smiled at his son as the fruit burst into flames.
"It was okay," Gus grabbed a bag of ice from the fridge, throwing it onto the cutting board. The fruit sizzled, flames shrinking back into themselves. Gus took the knife out of his father's hands, stabbing it into the skin and splitting it open.
"Just okay?"
"Yeah, it was pretty boring. I barely saw Luz today, and Willow and Skara were hanging out non stop."
"Sounds boring. I was just about to binge some Witches to Wives, do you want to join me?" Perry grabbed the plate of fruit and a mug of apple blood.
Gus smiled, he never really got a bunch of time just him and his dad. It was refreshing, being able to just hang out with the man. He nodded, "Let me just change."
Perry smiled back, heading into the living room, clicking on the crystal ball.
Gus skipped up the stairs, two at a time, and went into his room to change. As he walked back out, now in comfier clothes, he stopped by the wall of family photos.
There were multiple photos of him as a baby, quite embarrassing if you asked him. Birthday parties, grudgby matches, family gatherings. He stopped at one photo in particular. It was on the smaller side, framed in a dark wood. Another baby photo of him, but this one had his mom in it. She held him in his arms, smiling down at him.
He missed his mom, some days more than others. He could remember bits and pieces of her, but not too much. Sometimes he would forget her face, and he would tear himself up about it for hours. He remembered kitchen dance parties while making dinner, and movie nights over the weekends, and going on walks with both of his parents. It seemed like everything was perfect back then, that there was never anything to worry about.
"Gus! Are you coming?" His father's voice rang out from downstairs, snapping the boy out of his thoughts.
"Yeah!" He glanced back at the photo, smiling softly before heading downstairs.
— —
(a/n: okay so I started writing this story in past tense and I CANT DO IT ANYMORE I CANT 😭😭 i'm sorry for the random switch in the chapter, my brain just literally couldn't comprehend writing in past tense. okay, continue reading!!)
Matt sits down on the cold benches, wrapping his arms around himself. He stares out at the empty field. Gus seriously owes him for forcing him to come to these stupid games. He'd much rather be sitting at home listening to the human music Luz had found on the beach. The singer has a weird name, Mint-skee, but her music is good all the same.
Suddenly the crowds start to cheer, some kids stand up and clap loudly. Two teams walk up onto the field, waving and cheering.
Gus walks beside Hunter, smiling shyly.
With a blow of a whistle, the game starts. People cheer as the players ride on their staffs, dodging hands and grabs by mere inches.
Honestly, Matt has no idea how this game works. He just came for moral support. He watches as Hunter gets his flag snatched, the blonde boy chasing after the opponent who managed to get it off the end of his staff.
His eyes trail over to Willow, watching as the girl dips under someone and steals their flag. So far the Emerald Entrails have two flags, which is good, Mattholomule assumes.
Most of the game is ducking and passing, not a single second of anyone sitting still. Matt's eyes land on Gus, who is riding his staff while standing. This slightly baffles Matt, he doesn't understand how Gus doesn't fall. The boy dips and turns around his opponents, swiftly dodging any offensive attacks pointed towards him. He manages to get two flags, while the other team has already gotten Skara and Viney's flags.
Matt stares in disbelief, Gus has definitely improved. He must have magically gotten better, because at the practice Mattholomule happened to walk into a month ago Gus could barely do a dive.
Gus turns towards the stands after slipping the two flags onto the tree, half the crowd cheering loudly, while the other half boos. Gus's eyes slip into contact with Matt's and he smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the emotion. He then turns away, heading over to Hunter to help get the last flag.
Mattholomule's cheeks grow warm, despite the frigid breeze. His tongue feels slightly cottony, a slight buzzing feeling showing up in his chest.
What the Titan?
— —