The atmosphere was heated - being in the middle of a make-out session with your extremely hot girlfriend could do that to a guy. They were just getting to the good part, too - Brid was starting to tug at the hem of his shirt, meaning to pull it up over his head. He knew this from experience. They separated, and she succeeded in removing the offending article of clothing.
He went in to kiss her again, but was stopped by a hand placed flat against his chest. He opened his eyes, hurt, to see his adorably flushed girlfriend with a horrified look on her face.
"What?" He asked, wondering if he had accidentally summoned a ghost. "Is there a -"
"Zombie pandas."
He suddenly remembered that he had not yet informed her of the tattoo he had gotten. That would definitely explain why he had just been rather forcefully denied.
"Ah. Yes. Um. Well, you see, when Douglas first told me I was a Necromancer, he showed a panda at the zoo he was puppeteering. And, well, I thought that was wrong. So I got a tattoo of a zombie panda so I would remember not to use my power wrongfully."
Brid made a face. Sam thought it was because she was trying to digest the entire tattoo thing. It might have been a bit of a shock. At least, that was until he realized she was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Seriously Sam, a tattoo?" She spluttered. She then grabbed his arm. "Come on."
"Wait, my shirt - " he tried to protest. It was useless.
She dragged him outside. He wondered where they were going, and why they were outside. It was really cold in the fall, and his shirt was still inside. He heard the crunch of leaves. He and Brid had stopped moving, so it must have been someone else. He turned around. It was Bran, Brid's older brother. And Sean, her other older brother.. Well. I see how it is. He guessed they had been training, based on the dirt covering their clothes and the twigs and leaves in their hair. Still, why was Brid making him stand there in the cold with his shirt off? His question was answered the next second.
"Guys. Sam got a tattoo." Brid announced.
"Thank you so much for announcing that, can I go get my shirt now?" Sam asked impatiently.
"No way. They gotta see it first," she replied.
Well, great. There goes the small veneer of respectability I had left among these hooligans. He uncrossed his arms, the zombie panda tattoo displayed in all its glory across his chest. Brid's brothers got the same funny looks on their faces as Brid had.
"Go ahead, laugh," he said morosely. "Brid already did."
It was the last straw. The walls holding back their laughter broke up all at once. Sam's weak protests didn't help the matter at all.
"I don't get what's so funny about it!" He exclaimed. "It's just a tattoo!"
"Yeah, but of a zombie panda? That's ridiculous, even for you!" Sean said, still laughing.
Sam thought about it a minute. He looked around, and found himself smiling. No! Laughter wasn't supposed to be contagious! Or maybe it was, he wasn't really sure. He thought about his tattoo again. Okay, it might be a bit strange, I mean, the lady who tattooed me thought it was weird too… Okay, it might be just a little bit funny. A smile grew on Sam's face, and then he started to laugh as well.
Now they were all laughing, and couldn't stop. As soon as one of them calmed down, they would make eye contact with one of the others and go off all over again. It was a vicious cycle.
Finally, after at least fifteen minutes, they had all relaxed a bit and were laying on the ground in a circle.
"Thanks, Sam. I needed that," Brid said.
"I think we all needed that, Brid," corrected Sean.
"Well, I'm glad that I could help you all, and you're all very welcome, but I think if I don't get inside in the next few minutes all my appendages will have to be amputated from frostbite. And I really do mean all."