Robin ran through the Fortrex, one hand on the walls to keep him from slipping on the hard metal floor. Finally, after two whole months of being stuck in the Fortrex with the older knights, Robin was free. He pulled his hand away from the wall and spread both of his arms to keep his balance, sliding the rest of the way to the break room. A quick spin on his heel an a punch of a button, and Robin burst into the middle of whatever conversation Fletch might've been having with Ava and Izzy.
"They're gone!" He announced proudly, "We have the entire place to ourselves!"
Ava shot a glare at her brother from where she sat at Izzy's side, "Thanks for telling us what we already know, really. It means a lot."
Robin laughed and leaned up against the back of the couch where Fletch was sitting.
"You're just mad because you're still stuck with your two brothers and don't get time alone to do gross stuff with your girlfriend, like kiss and play with each others hair."
Ava responded by chucking a pillow directly at Robin's face. It hit him, and then landed in Fletch's lap. Izzy snorted loudly, and leaned up against Ava.
"Who says we can't do that while you're still here?" She asked, "Just to annoy you, I mean."
"You could," Fletch responded, using the pillow that had landed in his lap to hit Robin in the face playfully, "Or we could do something that'll piss off Clay. Like go get tattoos."
Robin's face turned white. "No. I can barely stand that sort of stuff." He pointed to his single, feather shaped earring, "Remember when I got this and then cried for two hours? Yeah, no. And besides, it's not Clay getting pissed that I'm worried about, it's my dad."
"Our dad." Fletch corrected.
"Right."
There was a brief silence, where the four just thought about what they could do. Izzy eyed Robin and then smiled.
"You could get a haircut," She suggested, "Which would only piss you off."
Robin scowled, and put a hand behind his head protectively. Yet both hands still didn't completely cover the bun at the back of his head.
"No. You even think about touching my hair, and I'll kill you."
Ava rolled her eyes, and went from leaning against Izzy's side, to laying down in her lap.
"Oh trust me," She said, "I've thought about it." Her eyes slowly moved to look at Fletch, who was forming a small pair of magic scissors in his hands. Robin followed her gaze with a frown, then lowered his hands.
"Ava, what're you-"
A snip echoed through the break room. Robin froze. He turned so slowly and awkwardly, that he looked less like an 18 year old, and more like one of the velociraptors at the end of Jurassic Park. A laugh on the edge of Fletch's voice stopped where it was. Instead, all that came out was a small squeak.
"I'm. Going. To kill. You." Robin said slowly and deliberately. And just as the last word slipped out of his mouth, Robin was over the back of the couch and fighting his brother. Half a second later and Ava and Izzy were pulling the two apart.
"Jesus christ Robin!," Fletch yelled, furiously flattening his shirt where it had gotten wrinkled in the fight, "All I did was cut your hair!"
"Which I said-" Robin argued back, struggling against Izzy's hold, "I would kill you if you did! I'm just keeping my word!"
"Keeping your word like an insane person!"
The door to the break room slid open, and in walked Allie. In her arms was a 6 foot long gator.
"Howdy!" She said with a smile, "Look at what I got!"
And she set the alligator loose in the common room.
Clay yawned as he pulled his armor off piece by piece. Aaron's family was nice, but they didn't seem to understand that the nexo knights couldn't stay there all night. It didn't help that he was just finally settling back into a normal sleep schedule, and staying up even slightly past his set sleep time could mess it up again. The door next to him that lead into the rest of the Fortrex slid open, and Macy poked her head out of it. A smile split her face.
"Clay," She started, "You've gotta come see this."
He gave one small sniffle before setting the final piece of his armor where it belonged.
"See what?" He asked. She only gestured for him to follow, and with a huff, he obliged.
The halls of the Fortrex were dimmed, and Clay had to watch his step so that he didn't trip over any random objects as Macy led him back towards the break room.
Inside, the only light came from the holovision, where the startup screen for a game flickered. Under the table lay Allie, her arms wrapped around a large alligator. Her mouth was open, and every now and then, a loud snore would come from her. On the recliner was a vague tangle of limbs that Clay could only barely make out as Robin, and sitting on the ground beside him was Fletch.
Ava sat in front of Izzy on one of the couches, her head in her hands and her hair half braided.
They were all fast asleep.
Clay half snorted to himself and took a step forward to wake one of them up, only to step in- he squinted- hair?
"What happened while we were gone?" He wondered out loud, "I mean, we were only gone for a couple of hours."
Macy shrugged from beside him, "That's what I want to know. But anyway, I thought you'd want to see this mess. I think it's kinda cute. Seeing them all asleep like this."
He nodded and crossed his arms thoughtfully.
"We should wake them up."
"If you want to get near that alligator, then be my guest." Macy said back at him, "Knowing Allie, that thing was probably dragged here against its will."
"Right…"
The two of them stood there for a moment, and then one of Ava's eyes opened. She shot a glare at them.
"You can leave, you know." She grumbled quietly, "Instead of staring like a couple of 22 year old creeps."
Clay blinked at her, then held up his hands in self defense. "Hey, we were just going to wake you guys up. Don't get mad when you all have back pain tomorrow."
Ava's response was a small huff. She curled up closer to Izzy who was, from what Lance had told Clay, a human heater. Clay nudged Macy with his shoulder and motioned for them to leave. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that nothing would get those four to move.
Whatever happened that night would probably remain a secret.