- The Day After The Events Of Chapter Fifteen -
"Maaaaaark."
"Eeeeeeeetan."
"MAAAAAAAAARK!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEETAN!"
"What time is it?"
Mark looked down at his watch, giving a little annoyed sigh. "Three thirty. We still have half an hour before we can close down and go."
Ethan groaned, collapsing on his counter. He dragged a finger through the dust and dirt that had built up on the surface, grimacing as his finger came out gray.
"Might as well do a little cleaning." He announced, to no one in particular.
He strapped on some gloves, grabbed some cleaning supplies, and got to work.
Scrubbing the dirt and grime off of things in a flower shop wasn't easy. Hell, dirt was everywhere!
But, he tried his best, and after many minutes of furious scrubbing he could actually see the dark blue of his countertop.
"Ethan, while your at it, can you clean the register?" Jack called, poking his green head into view.
The blue boy groaned, trudging over and cleaning the silver surface. It wasn't that dirty, but he suspected Jack just wanted to give him more things to do.
That little bastard.
It was a good thing that Ethan was a fast cleaner, and at the time that it hit four o clock, he had already cleaned the counters, cash register, and mopped the floors.
"Hoooome tiiiiiime!" Kathryn called out from the back, having just gotten back from a delivery.
Him, Mark, and Jack all clustered together in the back room, hurrying to whip off their aprons and head home.
But, of course, Ethan and Mark weren't heading home, they were heading towards The Barrel. The Korean swung into the drivers seat, while the blue boy hopped in the back.
Chica was already there, as Mark had brought her to work today, and had just put her in the van.
When both males were comfortably settled, Mark started driving towards Tyler's house.
Ethan was practically bouncing with excitement, wait no, he was literally bouncing. He had never been on a long road trip like this, and definitely not a road trip to go for food at Cracker Barrel.
All in all, he was super happy. And, his happiness grew tenfold as Tyler hopped into the van.
"Ty!" He cried, launching himself at the other and hugging his waist.
Tyler stumbled a bit, not expecting that, and exclaimed " Eth! We just saw each other yesterday, why are you so excited!"
The blue boy drew back a little, allowing the taller male to be able to sit down and get comfy.
"W-well, it makes me happy when your around, s-so-" Ethan got cut off by Tyler giving a little chuckle, murmuring "ah it's okay man, you make me happy too."
The sounds of fake puking could be heard from Mark, and the two lovers gave little laughs.
"Can you two please hold back on the PDA in m'van?" The Korean pleaded, turning around in his seat and staring at them with puppy dog eyes.
"Maaaark, pay attention to the rooooad." Ethan grumbled, raising his eyebrows.
That got the other to shut up and pay attention, and also elicited a laugh from Tyler.
The rest of the ride to Cracker Barrel wasn't too interesting. Sure, laughs were shared, pets were given to a good pupper, and static was watched on the tv, but nothing worth mentioning.
Until it happened.
It all happened so quickly, the blue boy could barely handle the speed of the events.
It all started when Mark gave a loud gasp, and started pointing at something. Tyler peeked around the front seats and gasped too, basically jumping out of his seat.
Ethan was the last one to see, and when he did, he squealed.
There, in all its glory, was Cracker. Fucking. Barrel.
Mark pulled up into the parking lot, and they all hustled out and into the restaurant.
Ethan wasn't there for the ordering, he was too busy going to the bathroom. And, no, he wasn't crying this time.
When he got back to the other two, they already had three orders of chicken and dumplings.
He grabbed his serving, and lead his friends back out to The Barrel.
And that's where they were now, Ethan and Mark sitting on top of the van while Tyler sat on the ground. Of course, Chica was also on the ground, lapping up some water.
"Ugh, it's too hot up here, I'm coming down, Tyler." Mark called, still holding his food in one hand. Ethan didn't even need to see the outcome to know it wasn't going to go well.
And it didn't. Once Mark hit the ground, his arm was jolted up, and two of the dumplings flew out of the container.
That's how they ended up having a funeral for the lost food.
It was a tremendous occasion, and by tremendous occasion, I mean that they buried the dumplings half-hardly in a patch of dirt.
"Ripperoni pepperoni." Mark cried as he set down a single flower petal on top of the mound of dirt.
Tyler recorded the entire funeral, saving the video for a later date when he needed something to laugh at.
Ethan on the other hand was rubbing Marks back, looking falsely sympathetic. "There there, Marki, they're in a better place now. Think, would they rather be buried peacefully in the ground, or boiled alive in your stomach?"
Mark made a heartbroken noise, then started lightly sobbing. Tyler nudged Ethan, looking like a disappointed father. "You made him cry."
The blue boy gave a little whine, mumbling out something that sounded like 'Aw, do I have to?' before patting the Koreans back, and sighing out, "Mark, I'm sorry. The dumplings you ate are probably happy in their stomach hot tub."
That apology was just, just enough for Mark to allow Ethan back into the van.