You Know What They Say About Guys With Big Feet…
"He should be in his room, Vlad." Mrs Branaugh told him. "Go on up."
Vlad smiled and thanked her, while Mr Branaugh tsked quietly in the background.
When he got to Robin's room, he found it empty, although the small TV was on and Jeremy Kyle was filling the screen.
"Weird. I wonder where he is." Vlad said aloud.
As if to answer him, he heard a cry from another part of the house. "I wish I was an only child!"
Wondering what the twins and Chloe had done this time to his best friend, he turned to go find Robin, only for the door in front of him to swing forcefully open. Startled by the door banging against the wall, Vlad let out a totally masculine 'yelp'. This of course caused Robin, clad only in a pink towel decorated with rubber ducks, to yell in surprise too. He was so surprised, his hands flew comically up in the air – causing the duck covered towel to drop to the floor.
Neither boy knew what to do, both faces absolutely scarlet, as yells of "You're scum! SCUM!" came from the TV. Vlad only now noted the bright green dye in Robin's hair, clashing brightly with his red face. In particular, he watched a droplet of water fall from his lime coloured hair, trail down past Robin's wide chestnut eyes. His eyes followed it as it trickled down his neck – right across his jugular, a small voice in the back of his head noted – and down his best friend's well defined chest and past his flat stomach. They followed the lucky droplet ran down Robin's pitch black treasure trail, to his –
"Oh my God!" Vlad mouthed. Finally, the spell was broken as he covered his eyes with his eyes. Both boys spluttered apologies at the same time, before a deeply embarrassed Robin flung on some boxers. And if Vlad's fingers were open a little while Robin got dressed, it must have been hand tremors.
A short train ride later, both boys found themselves outside Stokely's only bowling alley. Robin had bounced back from his initial embarrassment earlier, and even his Troll-green hair ("No seriously, real trolls have that colour hair too, they're just much bigger than the toys") could not put a dent in his confidence.
No sooner had they gotten in the door, Robin had flew for the arcade, thrust his trainers into Vlad's arms saying "Get my shoes, Vlad? They've got house of the Dead Three!"
Vlad didn't know why he felt satisfied when Robin practically knocked a group of fit girls out of the way in his hurry to get to the machine. Okay, so he did know, but he didn't want to admit it yet.
He paid for the lane, and got his own shoes before the attendant asked him for his friend's shoe size. Unable to stop himself in time, he responded "About an eight, or a nine." If she wondered why Vlad was grinning and chuckling, she didn't mention it.