It's been almost a week and four days since they stayed at Ericson's. Everyone got along, for the most part. Izzy spent most of her time with her niece and nephew ever since Louis told her about them. Sophie tried to spend her time with Violet, but she couldn't seem to stay away from Louis which made Storm a bit upset. Storm mainly wanted to spend time with Violet his niece anyway.
Moo, however, talked to no one all through the week, not even Violet because of his burning jealously for kids she called "family". He the feeling drowned him so badly, he even thought about leaving in the morning. But he didn't want to do that to her. People that really wanted to get to know him better were AJ and Louis. But out of everyone, Louis was the most... interesting. He always found some way to make him smile like Violet did whenever he avoided tried to avoid them. He didn't treat him like a threat, but a friend. He even thought the freckled dread head was kind of cute if he was being honest along with his girlfriend.
Moo decided to hunting today with Aasim and Louis. He brought Smokey along too since he was moving around a lot better. As they walked, Louis looked over to his machete and grinned.
"That's a hell of a weapon you got there," Louis chuckled.
"Um, thanks," Moo simply said avoiding his gaze.
Louis got a little closer beside him, "You're quite a big fella, you never told us how old you are."
Moo looked up thoughtfully, "I just turned nineteen."
"Boy, I thought you were way older, I bet you could lift a lot."
"I try."
He scoffed, "Please, I bet you could lift my whole piano with those muscles."
"You gotta piano?" he asked curiously.
"Mhm, you play?"
"A bit."
Louis's face brightened up, "Really? You gotta show me some of your skills."
Moo smirked nervously, "I'm a bit rusty."
"I won't judge ya."
Aasim put his hand up signaling to stop, "I spotted some rabbits here a couple of days ago, I think most of them are fully grown by their size."
"Alrighty, captain."
Aasim rolled his eyes, "Hey Moo, I hate to ask, but how good are you with a bow?"
He shrugged, "Alright I guess."
"I brought an extra if you wanna go ahead and start, but can you still shoot with your... eye?"
He just nodded.
"Oh, um, great, we'll stand behind those bushes, and Louis, go look if anything are in the traps."
He groaned loudly, "Yes sir."
They kneeled down behind some bushes as they kept a close eye for the rabbits. Smokey stayed close beside Moo as he sniffed some flowers. Aasim took a quick glance at the black wolf before turning his attention back over the bushes.
"That's a nice wolf," he complimented, "where'd you even find one of those?"
"I found him as a puppy," Moo started to explain, "there's was an old wildlife park where they kept wolves, his mother was dead and his litter mates looked like they died of starvation. Fortunately, he was alive clinging on to life. So I took him in and raised him as my own ever since."
"How old is he?"
"Six."
Aasim chuckled, "Man, I wish I had a wolf."
"Heh, there pretty damn hard to train, that's for sure. But Smokey quickly got to know me and now he loves me to death, and so do I."
There came some rustling from the other side as the two quickly stopped talking getting their bows out. They saw a big brown rabbit come out along with three others sniffing around the grass.
Before Aasim could say anything to Moo, he already had shot two of the rabbits point-blank turning away through the head with the others looking around terrified. Aasim quickly shot the other one before the last one got away. He turned to Matthew with a stunned expression as he just looked blankly back.
"You got quite a shot," Aasim gawked gathering the two rabbits.
He shrugged looking sadly at the rabbits, "I guess."
Louis soon came back with five more rabbits holding them by their feet.
"These were all the rabbits that were in the traps," he informed making Aasim sigh.
"They'll do, besides, you should've seen Moo kill those rabbits, clean hitter."
Louis smiled, "Well, it seems that our friend Moo has got some talent."
Moo blushed, "It wasn't nothing."
As the three started to walk back to the school, Moo saw Smokey walk in another direction. Instead of calling him back, he followed him curiously wandering away from the others. It wasn't long until Smokey stopped at a bush sniffing all around it.
Then Moo realized that these bushes were filled with flowers. Not just any flowers: blue violets. He couldn't see the color of them but he recognized them clearly by their shape, pattern, and smell.
These are beautiful, I haven't seen these things for years.
He then stopped and thought that these would make a perfect gift for Violet. Since they were beautiful like her, he might as well give them to her to show her he's sorry for avoiding her these few days and this how perfect you are at the same time.
"Smokey, you're a fucking genius," he laughed out loud making the wolf looked up at him in confusion.
Moo started gathering as much as he could, smiling about how Violet would look at the sight of this perfect gift.
-
"Now, can you say 'auntie'?" Storm lisped to Blossom as she giggled, "Come on, I know you can do it."
"On-tie?," she tried to say but Storm gasped at the attempt.
"That's it!" she laughed blowing raspberries on her belly.
She looked up and saw Moo holding almost a bush full of violets heading towards the dorms.
"Matias, what are you doing?"
He looked back with an annoyed look on his face, "Can't a man decorate his room?"
Storm just rolled her eyes, "As long as you keep it on your side of the room, go crazy."
As Moo rushed back to the dorms, Storm just ignored whatever the hell he was up to and continued playing with Blossom.
-
While Violet laid peacefully knowing that Blossom was with Storm, a knock came at her door.
Can't I go without a day with people always at my fucking door.
"Come in," she groaned.
The door opened with Vivian holding a bush full of Violets with a purple envelope on top. Violet jumped out of her bed wondering what the hell was all this.
"Vivian, what the fuck is this?"
She dropped it down on the bed on the other side of the room before answering.
"It's from the fine stallion you came back with," she answered back.
Fine stalli-? Moo.
"He wanted me to give this to you."
She sighed getting the envelope and opening it. Saw it was written in nice cursive writing then began reading it.
"Hey Vi, I wanted to give you this in person, but I got too nervous. Look, I'm sorry we haven't been hanging out much and not talking to you these past days. God, I'm so fucking stupid. Anyways I found these for you as part as my apology. I hope you like as much as I do. They're very beautiful just like you, shit, that was corny as fuck. Please don't laugh. But I miss talking to you or miss you in general. We could meet at the courtyard at dinner time tonight if that's fine by you. Look forward to seeing you and hope you can forgive me,
Sincerely yours, Moo"
Violet could do nothing but grin widely and blush by reading the letter. As Vivian looked over her shoulder, she furrowed her brows.
"Does he know?"
Violet whipped her towards her with an annoyed glare, "Know about what?"
"That you... ya know... like females?"
But I like him...
"What does this gotta do with anything?"
"Oh I dunno, mate," Vivian spat sarcastically, "he sends these flowers and gives you this lovely letter. Vi, the boy likes you."
Thanks for pointing that out, Captain fucking obvious.
Violet pretended to not know what she was talking about, "I said we were just friends, nothing else so quit your worrying."
"That's not how the note seems, mate."
Violet groaned, "We're friends, end of story, now let it go."
Vivian rolled her eyes walking out of the room with nothing else to say. Violet sighed heavily knowing that everything she said to Vivian wasn't true. Even after that outburst he had she still was attracted to him, and so was he.
She missed him too. A lot to the point it made her stomach turn. She never truly knew why she had such feelings for a guy. Maybe his good looks, his kind nature around her, the only person to make her feel special...
All she knew was that she liked him more and more every day.
-
Later that night, Violet walked out into the courtyard finding everyone out talking with each other while Omar made dinner. As she walked through she saw Moo sitting with Sophie. She walked over to their table and saw them drawing, well Sophie watching Moo draw.
"Hey guys," she spoke getting their attention.
They both looked up with Sophie giving her a friendly grin and Moo giving her this derpy nervous smile.
"Hi, Vi!" Sophie chirped, "I never got to tell you how good of an artist Moo is."
When she held up his drawing of a wolf head, Violet was amazed at how realistic it was. The the lining details of its mane, it eyes and nose, and the shadowing effect made it look like almost a real photo.
"It's not the best," Moo shrugged.
"Not the best?!" Sophie gawked, "Dude, this is Picasso level!"
"Your's was good too."
"Not as good as yours."
Violet squinted her eyes at the picture, "Is it Smokey?"
He shook his head, "No, just some random wolf I thought of."
He then looked up at Violet as she looked back smiling at each other.
"I'm really glad you came out here," he said.
"Me too."
As the two kept staring at each other, Sophie just watched awkwardly at the two not knowing what was going on. Before she could say anything, Louis called getting their attention.
"You comin' over?" he called as some of the rest was sitting around the fire.
"Just a sec!" Sophie called back rushing over.
Moo and Violet soon looked away from each other still smiling nervously following Sophie to the rest. When they got over there, they saw Louis, Clem, Aasim, Storm, Izzy, and Vivian all around the fire. Violet sat in her usual spot on the couch with Moo sitting beside her. She noticed Clem and Vivian had an uneasy look when they sat together with Storm having the same glare she gave Moo back at the town.
I still don't why he does that.
"Alright everyone, anyone got any recommendations on what to play tonight?"
Izzy's hand instantly shot up, "Ooh, ooh! Would you rather!"
"Ahh, a childhood favorite," he mused, "alright then, whoever has the highest asks and the lowest answers."
Everyone agreed to the terms then began pulling cards. When everyone pulled they saw that Izzy had the highest with Storm having the lowest.
"First round!" Izzy chirped excitedly, "okay Storm, it'll be simple because I love you."
She smiled, "Whatcha got?"
"Would you rather keep your name, Storm, or be named something like... hmm... Sunny!"
Storm scrunched up her nose at the name, "Sunny? Really? I'd rather keep my name, it really fits more to my . . . intimidating fesique."
"It really does," Sophie chuckled lightly while making Storm blush
After that, they pulled out another card with this time Clem had the highest with Aasim had the lowest. His face was automatically hesitant scared of what she might say with wearing a mischievous look.
"Please be nothing bad," he said quickly before she could ask the question.
She rolled her eyes, "Fine, okay, if you went out with someone else, would rather date a walker, or would you rather date Louis."
"What?!"
"Ooh, that's a good one," Violet pointed out trying hard not to burst out laughing.
"Gotta answer, Aasim, me or a walker," Louis raised his brows up and down."
"Walker, walker all day," he answered quickly making Louis pretending to pout.
"Aww, and here I thought we had something special."
Aasim rolled his eyes, "I don't even know Clem deals with you all the time."
"Because my love can't resist me," he kissed Clem on the forehead making blush in embarrassment.
They pulled out the next card with Aasim having the highest and Moo getting the lowest. Moo cursed under his breath while Aasim tried to think of a good question to ask.
"I got it, would you rather have a dog or a cat?"
"Ah, the oldest question in the book," Louis smirked.
Moo clicked his tongue, "That's a tough one, but I'll with dog on this one."
"Why not a cat?" Aasim asked curiously.
"I love them both, but think logically," he went on, "what's a cat gonna contribute in battle? Shitting in the litter box? They're useless in a world like this unless you gotta tiger."
Clem raised a brow thinking about it, "He actually... makes a good point."
Louis nodded, "My question is do cats even exist now?"
Moo shrugged, "Doubt it."
Everyone pulled the next card finding Vivian having the highest and Violet having the lowest. Violet didn't notice when she gave Moo a serious look before facing Violet.
Violet glared, "And it better not be anything fucking stupid like everything else that comes out of your mouth."
"Oh, mate, it's a question you can answer easily," Vivian replied with a " you already know" tone.
"Okay, shoot."
"Would you rather kiss a girl or... a guy."
Violet widened her eyes at the question not knowing if she heard it right.
"What?"
"Girl or guy, plain and simple."
"Vivian, you already know the answer to that," she spat her face red in anger and embarrassment, "I don't gotta answer!"
"Oh, but I think our guests would love to hear what you do say, especially your 'best friend'."
Moo turned to look at her in concern as she kept refusing to answer, "It's my fucking business! He doesn't need to know!"
"But I think he does!" Vivian shot back, "and if he can't handle the truth then I think we should kick his ass out!"
"Vivian, that's enough!" Clem growled, "If she doesn't wanna answer, she doesn't gotta answer."
"It's her business," Sophie chimed in, "we can just skip the question and move on, I don't know why it was brought up in the first place."
Vivian narrowed her eyes at Violet and Moo, "Fine, but if he doesn't get the message, he leaves."
Violet didn't know why Vivian would ask her this in the game. Not everyone needed to know her personal life. She knew she was attracted to girls and so did everyone else.
But Izzy, Storm, and... Moo, they didn't know.
-
After the game, Violet had just put Blossom in her crib but she was still wide awake. She babbled nonstop while grabbing her mother's fingers as she tried to tuck her in.
"How are you not tired?" Violet asked tiredly, "you haven't even slept all day."
She just kept babbling refusing to go lay down as she kept throwing the blanket off of her trying to stand. Violet sighed not feeling like making her go to sleep and just wait until she tires herself out.
Before Violet could lay down she saw Moo walk in with a tired look on his face too.
"Hey Vi," he yawned.
She smiled, "Hey Moo, what brings you by?"
"Ya know, I just wanted to come see you before I went to sleep."
"Um, I got the flowers and the note," she giggled nervously, "that was really sweet."
"Thought you'd like them," he grinned back.
"I loved them."
He looked over to Blossom chuckling as she kept jumping up in down. Violet put a pillow over her face groaning heavily.
"I don't why she won't go to sleep," she groans muffled.
"Could I try something? I think I know what to do."
"Knock yourself out."
When Moo went to pick her up, instead of trying to calm her like Violet tried to do, he playfully tossed her up in down, and every time he went down, he blew ticklish raspberries on her belly making her wave his arms, howling with laughter. Violet was confused, he was supposed to make her go to sleep, not playing with her. About after a couple of minutes, he stopped and placed her back in the crib. Blossom now looked exhausted from all the laughing and playing she did, so she cuddled up to her little pillow, breathing heavily, calming down.
"H-h-how did you that?!" Violet shot up looking dumbfounded of what her friend just did, "I could never-I mean I could-but not the way you-"
Moo giggled, "If she was up all day, Vi, she just had a little more energy that just needed to be burned out."
"Huh, I never thought of it that way."
"Well, I always prefer putting kids the bed that way."
She didn't know if she should ask this, "Do you... do you have... kids?"
He shook his head, "Never found the perfect person to have any with, heh, besides nobody thinks I'll make a good dad any way."
I don't think that...
"Well I thunk my job is done here," Moo stretched his arms yawning, "goodnight, Vi, I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright, and thanks for putting that little munchkin to sleep."
He smiled, "Anytime."
-
While Moo walked to his room for bed, someone tapped him on the shoulder making him jump. He turned to find Sophie with a candle with her long red hair in a ponytail.
"Hey, Moo, sorry I scared you," she apologized.
"It's fine."
"I needed to talk to you about something," She looked away scratching her head, "Um, look, I don't know if Violet ever told this, and it might explain why that girl was so pressed about you hearing Violet's answer in the game."
"She was a bitch," he pointed out bluntly.
"Yeah but, I think she also protecting her from you."
"Why?"
She hesitated, "Because Violet... um, Violet... likes... girls."
He cocked his head, "So?"
"Look, I've known for a while when we got to this school. I've never known her to be attracted to any guys, just... girls."
He widened his eyes as it hit him, "Oh, I see."
She sighed, "Remember I told you about my sister when I was taken into Charlottesville?"
He nodded, "Psychotic twin who followed the Delta blindly and had to kill you to prove her loyalty? Yeah, you told me."
Sophie couldn't help but roll her eyes at his bluntness, "Jeez, I can see why you two are friends. Anyway, when we were younger she confessed to me she was attracted to girls and that she had a crush on Minnie. We got older, they started talking and stuff, Violet was always the turtle in the shell while Minnie was the social butterfly."
Moo smiled, "Yeah, that sounds like Violet."
"One night, when they were in a room together, I saw them... kiss."
"Okay? What are you saying?"
"Violet didn't tell you she was dating my sister, has she?"
He looked down, "No, she told she didn't have anyone special."
She sighed, "I've seen the way you look at her, Moo, you're so kind and gentle with her. And if I'm being honest, I'd have to say you even treat her better than Minnie did. I could tell that their relationship was rocky."
"But we're just friends, Sophie, I respect her wishes. And... I'm a guy."
"I know, but people always look at you as a person who doesn't, but she trusts you which is a rare thing she ever does."
Moo turned away looking hurt, "I think you should get some sleep, it's late."
"Alright," she sighed, "we can talk more tomorrow."
"Yeah... sure."
"'Night, Moo."
"Good night."