Tripp & Gage have a misadventure in the boy's dorm at 3AM.
"Watch it, Tripp, you're gonna hit him into the door!"
"You're the one who's not lifting his head enough!"
"I swear you're the older one; those extra minutes you had on this Earth without me really hardened you, dude."
"Can you save the jokes for later? You're gonna wake somebody up!"
"You already did, you two fucking abortions! Shut the fuck up!"
The twins immediately straightened at the comment, glaring down the hall to the dorm it had come from. 116—Ted Thompson. They looked to each other and made a silent agreement to get back at the asshole at a later date. But not right now. Right now they had a much more pressing matter, in the form of a deer.
Said deer—for the moment named 'A.D.'—looked up at the twins with its large, brown eyes before opening its mouth and letting out what could only be described as a distressed groan.
"Oh fuck, c'mon A.D., not that!" Gage moaned, doing his best to carry the animal into his and his brother's dorm room. It was only five more feet, but it felt like a mile.
Tripp was equally as pushed by the deer's call. "You're gonna wake everybody up, and then you'll be out on the street! Come on Gage, hurry the fuck up."
"I'm trying!" Gage argued, finally arriving to the door and kicking it open half-hazardly, before nearly falling in. Quickly, he assisted Tripp in laying down A.D. on the bottom bunk of their bed, before the two slumped down on the floor side by side and let out a long, tired breath. It didn't last long, they had much more pressing manners at the moment.
They stood and inspected A.D., specifically, his leg.
"We have to set it," Tripp muttered, reaching out and—as gently as he could—tried to straighten out A.D.'s leg.
This mere movement resulted in the deer letting out a loud, pained groan, eyeing the twins as if it expected them to give it some sort of slow, painful death. It was too much for the boys, and they instantly felt their throats tighten.
"Don't do that!" Gage insisted, grabbing at Tripp's already withdrawn hand. Terrified, he reached out and stroked A.D. gently on the head, his heart tightening when he saw the animal pull its head away a little in fear before relaxing and accepting Gage's touch.
Wordlessly, Tripp pulled his phone out and texted the only person he could think of that would be able to set and heal a deer.
"hey g, u know how to set broken bones painlessly and quickly or do u have a link to a how to video on the matter preferably less than 5min long" he texted, his eyes trained on A.D.'s.
Less than a minute later, a loud knock came onto the door, surprising both the Walker twins and A.D. Tripp and Gage exchanged a look, unsure of what to do.
"It's Jason and Garrett. I know you two have a deer in there so open the fucking door," Jason's voice boomed through, and Gage scrambled up to open the door and pull the two boys in.
"Not so loud, Christmas!" he scolded, sticking his head out the door and looking down both directions in the hall in case any nosy asshole had overheard. Upon seeing that the coast was clear, he stuck himself back into the dorm and shut the door, locking it dramatically. "We don't want A.D. to get taken away!"
Jason and Garrett glanced at each other, an unimpressed look passing over the both of them. "'A.D.'?" Garrett asked, his voice in his usual monotone. He didn't look interested at all, but the twins knew he cared. He wouldn't have asked otherwise.
"It stands for Asshole Deer," Gage explained, "Asshole for the bitch that hit him and Deer because he is a deer."
Jason let out a loud, slightly annoyed sigh. "Thanks Bacon, I don't think either of us could've figured out that last part out."
"You're welcome," Gage answered, his eyes full of concern and trained on the deer.
Garrett, in the meantime, kneeled down and eyed the deer's leg. It was definitely broken, but by the looks of it it wasn't too bad. He let out a breath and stood, his eyes flicking between the twins, the deer, and Jason. "Plaster, stockinette," he said simply.
"Nurse has some of that shit," Tripp replied, nodding to Garrett. "She used some on Rock when he broke his arm after he fell asleep in that tree."
Garrett nodded to Tripp and began heading for the door, glancing back at Jason and giving him a simple nod. Jason nodded back, looking to Gage. "We'll stay here. You can bond with your fucking tick farm or whatever."
"He's not a tick farm!" Gage defended immediately, but was silenced by Jason holding his hand up.
"I'm not in the mood for an argument, Gage. It's 3 A.M. and a little late for this type of bullshit, even for you two."
Gage nodded and glanced at Tripp, who offered a shrug before leading Garrett out the door, presumably to go sneak into the nurse's office and steal the necessary supply for a cast.
Once the door shut behind them, Gage sat back down next to the bottom bunk and began petting A.D. gently once again.
"How do you even know if that thing's a dude?" Jason muttered, taking a seat on the desk chair and rubbing his sleep-filled eyes. The tattoos on his arm shone oddly in the moonlight coming in from the grimy window behind him.
Gage looked up, a crooked grin on his face. "He's got a—"
"Forget I asked, kid."
They were interrupted by the door open, and Gage was seconds away from mentally cursing his twin for not locking it behind him, before he saw the familiar shock of blue hair. It was just Danny.
"Hey, J.G., I was wondering where you guys wen—woah, holy shit, uh, is that a deer?"
He slipped in, having the consideration to the lock the door behind him, before sitting down cross legged on the floor in front of Jason. "Uh, what's going on?"
"Good question, Daniel," Jason agreed, leaning forward and placing his hands on his knees. "Gage, would you like to explain just why the fuck I'm awake right now, why our beloved freshman is awake right now, and why Garrett is halfway to breaking a rule at this fine hour?"
He gazed straight into Gage's eyes, and it made Gage a little bit uncomfortable. Jason Griffith was someone he admired dearly, and having Jason be mad at him was something that set him into quite a pickle.
"Aw, Jace, what were we gonna do? Leave him in the street?" Gage muttered, looking back at A.D. "So, what happened was me and Tripp were walking to Coventry, right? 'Cause, I mean, we were hungry and we wanted some snacks, but our dorm stash is out so I mean it's either head to Coventry or wait 'till 6 when Yum Yum opens and, I mean, shit, who wants to do that, right?"
He looked between Jason and Danny for a moment, studying their reactions. Danny nodded as if this explanation so far made perfect sense, but Jason still had that 'what-the-hell' look in his eyes. "So, there we were, minding our own business, about to cross the street when suddenly this green car just swerves and screeches and we hear a thump and then some bitch's voice screaming before she kinda drives off. So me and Tripp were ready to run after and smash her car up to teach her that that's not the way you drive at 2AM on a school night, when suddenly we see this big ass lump in the street."
Gage took a breath, glancing at A.D. The deer eyed him expectantly. "I mean, we thought it was a body—like a body in a bag, 'cause we thought the bitch murdered somebody and then threw the bag out the window—so of course we go to check it out 'cause who doesn't wanna see that, and then we see A.D. here, laying there looking as if he wants one of us to put a bullet through his head."
Danny bit his trembling lower lip, looking as if he were going to cry. It didn't surprise Jason—the kid was only fourteen years old—but he himself was still mystified. It was just a fucking deer.
"It's just a fucking deer," he said to Gage bluntly.
"It's not just a deer!" Gage shouted back, standing instantly and startling the other two and the deer. "He's an innocent animal who had bad shit happen to him, he doesn't deserve to die alone in the street!"
Jason was taken aback by the outburst, but quickly regained his composure. He supposed it made sense—the twins were touchy on the whole 'abandonment' topic. Sighing, he met Gage's eyes, which were big and watery. He wanted Jason's approval. "You're right, Gage," Jason agreed, "I guess you couldn't just leave it in the street. Still, taking him here was a shitty decision."
Gage nodded, looking away from Jason, but not before Jason could note the flicker of relief in his contact-covered red eyes. "Coventry was too far. It was right outside the school."
Jason said nothing, instead focused his gaze out the window and allowed Danny and Gage to begin a conversation focusing on how awesome the deer was.
Before long there was a knock at the door, and Garrett and Tripp entered carrying the supplies that Garrett had needed. Jason watched as Tripp and Gage held hands tightly, watching Garrett make the cast for the deer, taking turns stroking the deer's head to keep it calm, Danny trying to distract them as if they were parents awaiting their child's surgery to finish. But soon enough Garrett was finished, with the promise that the deer would be fine in about a month, maybe a few weeks.
"Alright Nix, bedtime," Jason announced, standing and stretching once Garrett had finished.
"Aw, can't we just stay a little longer?" Danny pleaded, his eyes flickering from Jason to Garrett.
Garrett shook his head, his gaze serious and trained on Danny. "You have class," he reminded, furrowing his eyebrows. "You can't be late. Again."
Danny sighed, offering a quick 'goodnight' to the twins, before trailing out after Garrett. Jason followed, but turned to face the twins as he stood in the doorway.
"We're moving him tomorrow. No arguments. I'll arrange something to move him comfortably and without us getting caught, but I don't want any complaints on this. This is the type of shit that can get you guys suspended. Just tonight."
"Aw, we know J," Tripp smiled, pushing Jason gently out the door.
"But that still means we get a night with A.D.!" Gage added before slamming the door on Jason's face.
Still, Jason couldn't help but laugh just a little when he heard the twins whooping and celebrating.