Chapter 14: Bathroom incident
A/N: Hey guys! As we continue with the story, there's several questions that must be asked. To make sure the story comes out in the best way possible.
Q1: Are there any other characters you want to hear from?
Q2: How many chapters would you like this new arc to last?
Q3: Are there any other franchises you want mentioned? If so, what?
There will be polls set up ready, and I'll keep an eye on the results before any decisions are made. Alternatively, feel free to just PM me any questions, queries, comments or insults. (Preferebly no insults.)
I await your decisions, and I'll see you next update!
P.s: I know I sometimes spell names differently, like Krista/Christa or Bertholt/Berthold, but I can't really decide which is right so I end up alternating. That way everyone's happy.
Meanwhile...
"So... Is there a reason people can see my stomach?" Krista asked the red-head who was holding up a crop-top to the blonde. While Lucas had focused on helping the guys out, she'd been trying to find clothes that suited the girls. And up to that point, things could have gone better. But could also have gone a lot worse.
She'd sorted Sasha out pretty quickly, finding her a medium-sized olive green skirt coupled with a small shirt saying "I 'moustache' you a question, but I'll 'shave' it for later." Her fellow red-head had chuckled for a good few minutes before deciding on that and a small set of black shoes. Alex tried not to groan at the joke, having heard it a million times before. But instead went along with it.
Ymir was pretty easy to sort too, donning a pair of navy-blue jeans with a black T-shirt and denim blue jacket with matching trainers. But for the others... Things were difficult to say the least. Mikasa and Annie weren't overly enthused about clothes, both going for a simple shirt, jeans and trainers combo. And Krista could pull off pretty much any look she wanted! Making the job of finding a style difficult to say the least.
"Not really. It's mostly just for fashion." Alex replied, taking away the piece of clothing from off her chest before placing it back on the shelf. "It doesn't really suit you anyway, so let's try something else."
"What about that shirt you're wearing?" Ymir asked.
"What about it?"
"Does everyone wear shirts like that, or is it just you?"
"Well... It depends on who you ask. Some people wear T-shirts, others just go for plain dresses."
"Whatever, Krista looks great in pretty much anything." Ymir half complimented, half bragged as she draped her arm around Krista's frail frame.
"S-stop it, Ymir!" Christa gently protested, her playful tone bringing a small smirk to the brunette.
"So... Any more ideas?" Alex asked the group, before noticing that Annie had spaced out as she looked towards a particular jacket. "Something catch your eye?" The red-head asked, snapping the teen out of her stupor.
"Nothing much." The blonde replied, her face returning to a stoic expression.
"You know... If leather jackets are your style, I'm sure Lucas wouldn't mind if you tried one on." Alex suggested to her friend, taking it down from the display and holding it up to the blonde beside her, said blonde raised an eyebrow at the girl's actions. "Come on, you'll look awesome with it on!" She pleaded, before her friend eventually caved in as she walked towards the changing rooms.
"Where's Annie going?" Christa asked, having overheard their conversation.
"Just... Trying a new look, I guess." Alex told her, unable to suppress a small smile that came on her face. 'It's nice to see Annie's taking a little pride in her appearance. It's probably going this well for Lucas and the guys, right? Why wouldn't it be?'
Lucas and John stood a mere meter apart, staring at each other in fear like stags in headlights. Before they eventually broke out of their stupors and reacted. Lucas brought his hands up and shifted his footing, moving into a make-shift fighting stance that resembled a mix of boxing and Annie's technique, though he didn't realise in the slightest. While the younger teen before him instead shielded his face, bringing his arms up to protect his visage.
"Don't! Please don't!" The shorter of the two called out, facing away from the teen as he covered his face. While Lucas looked on bearing a confused expression.
"Don't... What?" The brunette asked confused, the situation having moved from a recreation of Rocky 3 to the usual sight of a bully standing over a nerd. Only this time, in a twisted change of fate, the roles seemed to have reversed themselves.
"Please... I don't want to fight anymore." John replied, holding back tears as he squatted on the seat. "I'm... Done with fighting you."
"Why? Has James finally matured enough to think with his head instead of his fists?" The brunette remarked, but was soon filled with instant regret as he saw a look in John's eyes. One he knew all too well...
"No, It's just..." The delinquent trailed off, hesitant to explain before he gathered a breath and reattempted an explanation. "James went missing. Along with everyone else sometime yesterday, while I'd called home to help my dad." He elaborated, letting the lie roll of his tongue the same way it had the several dozen times he'd told it. To the cops, the detectives. To James' parents of all people. It still made a hole in his mind, knowing that they'd been brought into it for no good reason. "No-one's seen or heard from him since yesterday afternoon."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." The teen spoke, his defensive tone shifting to a more relaxed and sympathetic role. While his stance followed suit, lowering his arms to the side and shifting his feet back to a normal position.
"You're... You're serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, moving towards one of the hand dryers.
"Oh, I don't know... Maybe because they were the ones making your life a living hell the past year." John suggested, sarcasm practically coating his voice.
"Well... Yeah. They're still human beings, regardless of what they did. There's no reason to treat them as anything less." Lucas spoke sincerely, his voice carrying a certain sense of humanity that was clearly lacking in the teen's boss. Striking a chord that the raven-head didn't even know existed.
"That's... Not a bad way of seeing things, I guess." John replied, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.
"Yeah... It has its moments." Lucas responded, walking towards the door as if to leave before turning back towards the now standing 'frenemy'. "What are you doing here anyway? Out of interest."
"Grabbing stuff for my dad's DIY project. We're working on his car over the next week." John replied, fighting off the sudden urge to shudder as he thought back to his 'employer'. The impulse goaded on by the air conditioning's cold chill in the air.
"Well... That explain the ball bearings and the plastic wire cutters. But wouldn't it be better to buy metal ones? I've heard the cheap plastic ones start to melt if you get close to the engine."
"How do you know so much about cars? No offense, but you don't look like the mechanic type."
"None taken." Lucas responded with a small chuckle. "It's because of my... My dad. He owned an old American chopper bike that we used to work on together every other day."
"Why did you stop working on it?" John asked, as he witnessed the teen's look slowly shift to its earlier state.
"He... He passed away a few months ago. The bike's pretty much just gathering rust at this point." Lucas stated coldly, his voice lacking the emotion and fire it had held earlier. Turning both their moods melancholy
"I'm... I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You weren't the guy that killed him, it's not your fault."
"Not about that." John said, raising Lucas' eyebrow in the process. "Not that I'm not sorry about that! I mean, I am. It's just..." John sighed in defeat, before restarting his explanation. "I'm sorry that we... Kept hurting you like that without realising what you were going through. It was a shitty thing to do, I'm sorry." John apologised, looking towards the teen with a concerned face, the exact opposite of the norm. Unable to ignore the growing feelings of nausea in his stomach
"Forget about it. It's in the past."
"Really? How are you forgiving me this easily?"
"It's partly due to the fact that I've got more important things on my plate, but mainly because I could always tell you weren't always out to get me like the others were. Hence why you hung at the back most days, and let everyone else do the punching and kicking." Lucas said, widening the teen's eyes slightly before he vacated the bathroom with a small hurry. Leaving John alone with his thoughts.
'Maybe... Maybe I could tell him.' The teen thought to himself, but soon dismissed the idea as he grabbed the bag and left. 'No. No way. A friendly attitude can't stop a bullet. Plus, I think he's been through enough.'
"So, how did it go?"
"Pretty well... Annie managed to find herself a cool new look." Alex spoke, telling Lucas about the girl's shopping spree. "It suits her too, I never knew leather was her style."
"Not bad... We've mostly just gone with a T-shirt, hoodies, trainers and jeans." Lucas told the red-head. "Except Marco found a decent cap and Reiner found himself a brown jacket instead of a hoodie."
"Did the jeans happen to be Levi's?" Alex asked, unable to repress the cheesy grin on her face. While Lucas groaned both internally and externally. "What?"
"That pun was unbearable. Even by your standards." Lucas said, a small smile on his face.
"Fine! Fine." Alex chuckled out in defeat. "So, are we buying our stuff and bailing?"
"Not yet. There's two things left to do first." Lucas said, before he headed off towards a separate isle with Alex in tow. Darting between the brightly lit displays before finally arriving in the electronics section. Full of hardware and disc cases. All filled with movies, shows and games.
"I'm guessing that we're going for the series on disc?" Alex asked, thinking she could see Lucas' train of thought.
"Not really. We've already got Netflix, so there isn't much point there. But, it would help to see another example of animation, wouldn't you think?"
"Awesome!" The redhead spoke excitedly, her eyes darting between the choice of shows and movies. "Should we maybe go for a DreamWorks movie?"
"Probably not. They won't get most of the references."
"Then, why not Pixar?"
"Tempting, but computer animation is on a whole new level. They won't be prepared for it."
"In that case, what should we go for." Alex asked, while Lucas ran the different options in his head. Shooting down every option that presented itself. 'X-men? No, superheroes are cool but not the best start for movie watchers. It? Never again, I still can't look at clowns the same way after last time. Maybe Tron? Never mind, way too complicated.' The teen continued to think, slowly running out of pathways to take. Before he zeroed in on the perfect choice.
A bright yellow case, with a smiling brown mouse pictured on the front. With the words 'Tom and Jerry' printed at the top in a bendy cartoon font. Lucas reached out for the item, taking it in his hand before placing it into Alex's trolley. "Is that the one?" The red-head asked.
"Definitely. Remember the time we binge-watched it two years ago? You literally passed out on the floor from laughing." Lucas recounted, gaining a small chuckle from his friend.
"Well... You're not wrong." Alex agreed with a chuckle. "What was the second thing we needed?"
"We need to settle down in the café for a few minutes." Lucas said, walking back towards the group in the clothes isle while Alex followed closely behind. "I owe a certain blonde a few donuts."
A/N: To those of you who noticed the late update, I'm so sorry about it! Working on holiday was frustrating at best, with little time to write and about twenty minutes of wifi at best. As an apology, I'll be uploading the next chapter sooner. To apologise for this chapter being later.