Survival Of The Fittest

Rick looked over at Fiyori, guessing what she had just mumbled, or something similar. He rubbed the side of his face in embarrassment. He was used to her innuendos, but he hoped that they flew over Brendan's head. The kid seemed too innocent to handle it.

"Uhhhhh, hm," was his excellent response to Brendan's question. What kind of song would he want to sing? He had done covers of happy, sad, even downright creepy songs before. He usually went with whatever new video or opening song piqued his interest or what his viewers asked for the most. This would be the first he would make an active decision on what song he wanted to choose, in a way. There was suddenly a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and Rick never did well with pressure.

"I don't know... I guess something simple, maybe a happy song or a love song." he offered. Those were usually the easiest to do. He could always bring up the emotion for those kinds of songs. They made him feel good when singing them.

"But don't worry too much about it. Go with whatever makes you feel good." Rick concluded. "And seeya when you go."

Brendan got up to his feet and he held his bag close to himself, looking down at both Fiyori and Rick with a bright smile on his face. "A-Alright! I'll do a love song just for you, Rick! I'll make sure that it will be a great one for you to sing. I-I promise! I'll see you again later. Bye!" He was getting overconfident about what he would write and he patted Rick's shoulder gently before leaving the library.

He was in a great mood right now and he wasn't going to let anyone spoil it for him. He grinned to himself as he was trying to think of lyrics in his head as he left the other two behind in the library.

((Brendan Harte continued at Black Kingdom, Red Kingdom))

Oh, good god, no! This was getting way too hard. A love song 'just for you'? Jeez, that was so fucking adorable. And then he even gave Rick a pat on the shoulder. That was getting better and better. Fiyori had to do her best not to burst out with laughter. She instead leant her hand against lips. Pressed to hide the smile as she looked after Brendan leaving the room. She waited a few seconds more, and a dirty chuckle came out of her.

"Ah, he's so goddamn cute."

Finally, she felt herself free to release the tension. So to speak. Fiyori bellowed and laughed and there was even a small tear in the eye.

Hell, she even smacked Rick's arm playfully.

"Dude's totally into you, man."

Brendan seemed really into the idea of a collab. That was good, at least. He looked much happier then before. And the stuttering seemed to be out of excitement instead of nervousness. The easy air around the table was broken as soon as Fiyori broke into a fit of laughter. Rick out a light chuckle too, though he was more nervous than happy.

"Uh, sure. I guess you're-"

Rick was about to say that Fiyori was "into" Brendan when she replied with nearly the exact statement, only referring to him.

His mouth parted in shock. "Huh? No way!"

That couldn't be it, she must be jumping to conclusions. "Its just we have some things in common. Like swimming, and-and he's just obviously interested in writing music lyrics!"

It did not sound like the best excuse when it came out of his mouth, but it made more sense to Rick than the kid developing a crush on him in little then, like, ten minutes since they were formally introduced to each other. Could crushes even develop that fast?

Besides that, he was going out with Abby. Well, sort of going out. They were casual about it, but still. He couldn't believe it took him that long to think of Abby when this was brought up. It should've been the first subject in his brain. Did that make him a terrible boyfriend? Or, date... friend?

She laughed some more, though it mellowed out as Rick tried to search for something like an excuse. She eventually stopped, a dark grin taking the place. Well, hadn't she hit a great weakpoint there? Fiyori mustered her flustered friend. Figured she could tease him a bit. Of course, she knew - or rather she thought that Brendan's feeling were nothing more than some innocent crush. Something smaller kids developed for each other. Something that fit with what Fiyori grasped about Brendan thus far.

Still, she was very sure that these feelings existed one way or the other. And they were cute. And hilarious. Especially given how Rick reacted.

"Yeah, a great interest in writing love songs. Especially one for you."

She grinned at him. There was a dirty thought forming in her head.

Should she really say that?

"Oh, and I am sure Abby wouldn't say no to a threesome if you ask her nicely."

Rick hated how hot his face felt, resting his head on the table and using his arms to cover his face. He should have been used to her teasing by this point. And he was, when he was not the object of the teasing. He hardly ever got second hand embarrassment anymore from it. "You're awful sometimes, you know that?"

His mind started to wander at the suggestion though. Abby was beautiful, obviously. And warm and... soft- figuratively! Personality wise, she was wonderful. However, from an objective standpoint, Brendan was not bad looking either. He was tall, and in good shape from all that swimming. Even in the sweatshirt he could make out how broad the kid's shoulders were.

He had to stop. Had to stop thinking this. This was terrible. Damn Fiyori.

"Awful, awful..." his groaned muffled by his arms.

"Why, yes I do know I am awful."

Now that was a song. Rick's defeated murmuring as a soothing bassline. Fiyori's bellowing as some kinda of avant-garde harmony progression.

Though, she stopped herself for a moment of contemplation. It was said in jest, but she wondered. Would Abby actually say yes to a threesome? Probably not, she figured. Abby seemed to be the kinda gal who is too monogamous. Would just spell trouble to invite another dick into the bed. Now, granted, Fiyori would sure as hell say yes. It would be a novel experience. Perhaps a mistake. But she was young. And being young was all about that, no? Making mistakes, regretting them for a while and then having some fun anecdote for later. After all, there was just so much time left anyway.

Well, enough contemplation.

"I'm high-quality trash, after all. Gotta exercise my awfulness everyday.

"Ah, but forgot. Still got some food in my bag if you want. Was supposed to be for Brendan, but well."

Rick pulled his face up from his makeshift arm bunker.

"Yes, I do want it, please." he replied, feeling more defeated. But free food was free food, and Fiyori made really good shit. The food kind, not actual, well, shit. That was such a gross thing to think about when he was about to eat. His mind betrayed him on every occasion. But the food would help him clear his head. Probably.

"What do you have?"

There was the temptation. The small urge to pet his forehead as he emerged from his small fortress of shame. Or maybe the urge to snip her finger against it. Same sentiment.

Instead, Fiyori grabbed deep into the magical depths of her bag, searching just for like, jeez, a minute or so, until she finally found what she searched. The equally magical box wherein she contained the delicious pastries she prepared for the people of Kingman and herself.

Fiyori placed the blue tupper box unto the table, opened the lid with her finger and shoved it towards Rick.

In it, two Dutch Letters stapled upon each other. There were a favorite of hers. A good from the Netherlands, made by filling pâte feuilletée with almond - or in this case, marzipan - paste. Then, the dough is formed into a certain letter. Historically, she heard, it was the initial letter of the baker's surname or something, but most are formed into an "S". Easy letter that it was. Fiyori, fortunately, had little problems with that moral dilemma.

Still, making the dough for that pastry was often too much of a bother for Fiyori. She really had to feel making them. Lucky for Rick, she did feel like it.

One of Rick's arms quickly shot out from underneath his head to grab the offered baked good. It looked a lot like a snake to him. Maybe if he ate it he would get special powers. Either way, it was Fiyori's food. Which meant it would be delicious.

Taking his first bite, he squeezed his eyes in pleasure as the puff pastry and some kind of nut spread hit his taste buds. It was a little hard to get a full bite out of it, due to the two items being stacked together, but he made an effort to open his mouth wide enough to fit it all in. It tasted wonderful.

Swallowing after his second bite, he looked over at Fiyori with a smile. "Thank you, and all is forgiven."

Why, of course! Nobody could resist the magic. Even the foulest of beasts would have it's heart melt the moment it tasted Fiyori's stuff.

...would she really?

Either way, Rick was a good boy. And such a gracious one. Fiyori accepted his forgiveness with a little but playful bow. She could see him smile at her. And she smiled back. Fiyori's eyes looked over the various books and notes she pulled out of her bag, but given that she wasn't learning anything today, she could just as well start repacking them.

"I actually wanted to study a bit. Look how that turned out."

Rick had taken another bite of the pastry as Fiyori talked, chewing carefully as he looked at the books and other study tools he had been ignoring since he first saw Fiyori and Brendan. It was true that the library's true purpose was for reading. Accumulating knowledge in an active way. Not like active as in talking or singing, but to quietly read textbooks filled with small print and confusing diagrams and examples that were supposed to relate to real life but never did. Real life was talking to people, singing despite the fear of getting caught, and great pastries.

"It's too bad the world thinks textbooks teach you what you need to know about life." Rick replied once her finished. It took him a moment to realize what he said. Woah, backtrack. That probably made no sense to Fiyori.

"I mean, well, I wasn't even coming in here to study in the first place." Rick admitted. "But if you want to actually, you know, do that. I'll try to do the same. Promise."

"Studying, heh. Not that it would do any good for us."

Yeah, wouldn't do any good. Not for Fiyori. Probably not for Rick either. He said something about textbooks. How people thought that they showed what the real life was. She wasn't exactly sure what prompted the comment. But still. She kinda understood the basic sentiment. Fiyori knew these ridiculous questions in those fancy exams. Attempts to create some humor. They always were terrible and uncreative. Still, she chuckled. Made people think she was nuts, probably. But in truth, she felt as if she needed to. As if there was some stern man from the college admission behind her. The one who wrote the question, the one who wanted people to laugh at his jokes. Felt as if he were to banish Fiyori to Florida if she didn't laugh.

Actually, that was kinda nuts.

"So yeah. Not gonna make you suffer."

Fiyori moved on to pack her stuff into her bag. Jeez, no way in hell she'd be able to study like a good girl with a friend in the room.

"It wouldn't be suffering... much." Rick replied. Yeah, studying was never his thing. Fiyori didn't seem to care much about it either. He was close to finishing the pastry, so he decided the best course of action would be to stuff the rest in his mouth. He could feel his cheeks expand as he tried to chew the food to a something easier to swallow. Thinking about studying made him think about other things as well. What did Fiyori plan on doing after they graduated? He didn't think they ever talked about it before. e

"Hey, what are you planning to do after we graduate?" Rick asked. He was curious. "With your baking skills I'm sure you could set up shop somewhere."

Oh fuck. No.

Fiyori cringed. Was a thing she did. Mostly whenever those words appeared. What are you doing after graduation. She halted. Held a book inhand. She didn't look at Rick, focusing on the book. A way of concentrating. Fiyori quietly pushed the book into her bag, carefully closing it afterwards. She still looked at the bag.

She hated that question. Rick wasn't the guy to ask. Frankly, because he probably couldn't answer it himself. Well, not that there was malice involved. Of course there wasn't any malice involved. It was simple curiousity. A passing remark you do in conversation. Something said without great thought. She got that often. She got... exercise in answering.

"Well, opening a pastry shop's pretty expensive. Money I don't have, and I won't get."

She turned to Rick. If he were someone else, he would get some snappy answer. Something along the lines of mind your own business. She'd have to be gentle with Rick, however. She wanted to be.

"But... I'll probably help out somewhere. With my mother, maybe. I'm pretty resourceful, so I'll find some living."

Liar.