What the Duck?
Slipping into a hot bath, Will decided, was the best that life had to offer.
Lying there as the warm water surrounded him, Will felt himself relax, let go for a moment. It was rare that he felt at peace with himself, with the world as a whole, but the serenity of lying down in the warm water and simply letting go... that always did it for him.
Will closed his eyes and let his mind drift. And there she was, immediately, in his mind's eye, book in hand, gray eyes bright with a sharp intelligence and that burning curiosity that nothing ever seemed to satiate, as she looked at him...
His eyes flew open, but before he could reprimand himself, before he could do anything but lie there, panting, all serenity gone, a yellow blur flew over the shower curtain and landed on Will's stomach.
It was a rubber duck.
A rubber duck.
With a yell, Will scrambled to his feet, heart pounding in his ears as he stood there, staring down in horror at the infernal creature. Never mind that it was rubber, never mind that it was fake, it was still, purely and unequivocally, a duck.
And right away, Will knew who had done this.
Shoving aside the shower curtain, he sprinted out the bathroom door, not bothering to pull on a robe as he went, hot on the chase of the culprit. A silver blur at the end of the hallway revealed his parabatai, turning the corner as he attempted to evade Will. A joyful, carefree laugh echoed through the corridor, the boy-ish laugh of a prank well-played and Will yelled in frustration.
"Jem!" He called furiously, "James Carstairs, you duck-loving bastard, I will get you!"
But Jem continued to run, laughing harder now as he went.
And then they turned a corner, and there was Tessa.
Looking up from her book, Tessa took a moment to survey the scene: Jem, in all his silver glory, sprinting down the corridor, nearly crying with mirth as he did, closely followed by Will, fully naked, and dripping with water, blue eyes burning as he pursued the other boy, bright yellow rubber ducky in hand.
The boys passed by in a flash, hardly a glance her way, and Tessa stood there, staring after them bemusedly. And then, with a shake of her head and a resigned sigh, she continued in her way.
She decidedly did not want to know.