Yet another heated argument between the archers ended with Artemis storming out of the commons room. Roy sat back on the sofa, seemingly not caring about what had just happened. The only one to witness this exchange was Megan, who had been in the kitchen at the time. She shot the back of Roy's head a disapproving look.
"You know," she said quietly after a moment, "You didn't have to do that."
He turned, a look of mild surprise gracing his features. "I didn't know you were still here."
"I do live here, you know," she said, not meeting his gaze as she busied herself around the kitchen.
Roy just sort of grunted and went back to watching television.
A short while later, he got up to get a snack. He was surprised that Megan was still in the kitchen. She was sitting at the counter, book open in front of her, one hand propping up her head while the fingers of the other hand drummed lightly against the side of an unopened can of Cherry Coke.
She didn't acknowledge him as he rummaged through the kitchen cabinets for something to munch on. In a moment, he came up victorious with a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips, and then proceeded to recommence his television watching, snack in hand.
It only took him a minute to realize his grave error. He set the bag of chips beside him, swallowing over and over to keep himself from coughing. Urgently, he walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, looking for something to drink. A cardboard box with the Cherry Coke design was sitting on the bottom shelf. He crouched down and reached his arm all of the way into the box, only to be met by the cardboard on the other end. Peering inside, he saw that the box was, as he had feared, completely empty.
What a shame, he thought, because a Cherry Coke would have been perfect just then. However, a memory suddenly brought itself to the surface. Who had he seen with a Cherry Coke just a few minutes earlier?
Megan.
He looked behind him. The Martian girl was still sitting at the counter, still reading her book, and the can was still unopened.
He coughed lightly before standing up and walking over to her.
"So, Megan. I see you have the last Cherry Coke."
She didn't look up from her book. "Yes? And?"
"Uh," Roy said, "Well, are you going to drink it?"
She looked at the can, then at Roy, then back at the can, before shrugging and going back to her book. "I dunno. Maybe."
This was not going the way Roy wanted it to. "Well, I mean, if you're not going to drink it, can I have it?"
"Uh…" Only now did Megan see an opportunity. She looked up at Roy, smiling, and held out the can. "Sure!" However, just as he was reaching for it, she pulled it back towards herself. "On one condition."
Roy gulped, worried as to what this condition could be. How badly did he want that Coke?
"Um, what condition would that be?"
Megan continued to smile sweetly, but now Roy could see the devil horns under that halo.
"I want you to quit bothering Artemis."
Roy balked. "Uh…"
Megan waved the can in front of him tantalizingly, but kept it barely out of his reach. "All I'm asking, Roy, is that you be a little more tolerant of her."
"It's not all my fault!" Roy complained, breaking eye contact with the can to look at Megan. "You can't honestly say that she hasn't started some arguments."
The can continued to wave back and forth.
"I'm sure that if you didn't encourage these arguments, it wouldn't matter who started it. In fact, there wouldn't be any arguments in the first place."
He could see the condensation dripping on the outside of the can. It was still cold.
"Or," Megan said, lowering the can and placing it back on the table, "I could drink it. You know, if you don't want it that badly…"
That's right. How badly did he want that Coke?
Megan hooked her finger under the tab of the can, clicking it against the metal top of the can. The whole time, she kept her eyes on Roy, smiling.
"Look," Roy said, "I…"
"Just promise me that you'll leave her alone. Then, it's all yours."
Roy's throat was scratchy, and his mouth felt thick from the potato chips. He could always just get some water; there was juice in the fridge, but that Cherry Coke was just sitting there…
"Fine," Roy groaned. Megan popped the tab; the can made the satisfying pop-and-hiss sound of a soda being opened, and she handed it to Roy, smiling.
"Here you go!" She collected her book and walked off. Roy sighed, before taking his first long, satisfying sip. The Coke was cold, fizzy, and delicious.
He may regret his promise later, but right then, it was worth it.
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating. My teachers love piling on the tests right before a break.
Anyway, I was trying to update "Irresponsible", but then it turned into a story of a drunk Roy promising Megan to stop drinking, and then I watched "Insecurity" in Turkish/Portugese/Whatever language it's in, with Subtitles, and I got this idea.
I'm a little disappointed in myself, but I won't be able to watch it tomorrow, and I won't have access to a computer for a while.