I know it's been a long time, and I'm sorry for that. I just had a lot of personal shit happen to me all at once and I needed a week off (after the underway) to recover, and I also didn't feel like writing anything for awhile. Also this chapter gave me some serious writer's block at the beginning, so thank you all for your patience.
Hopefully "Rewriting the Terms" will be updated today or tomorrow, though!
Many thanks to Lol58, YaoiOverlord, can we not, PenguRin, TeamValdez, Watchingu, CucumberMonster, MistressLife, Bitblondetoday, DarkBlueMahogany, and pendaly for your reviews to the last chapter!
I do not own the lyrics to "Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes.
Rufioh stayed nervous-seeming through the whole drive to the Freeze King. Cronus had to resist the urge to sigh—it was just a date, after all, and with a girl who actually liked him. There was really no cause for him to stress out, even if it was his first date (he didn't know for sure, but he had a strong suspicion, anyway).
Thankfully, Meenah was oblivious to the tension and just whined about how absolutely annoying Aranea had been. Cronus had experienced the annoyance firsthand last year and therefore didn't need to be reminded, but he listened anyway.
When they arrived at the Freeze King, Cronus parked and quickly got out, opening Rufioh's door and swinging around the back to open up Damara's and Meenah's doors as well. His father had raised a gentleman, after all, although Cronus rarely showed his chivalrous side.
Damara patiently waited for him to open the door for her (she clearly remembered that from their brief time dating), but Meenah was already sliding out on her own by the time he got to her. Flicking at his ear, she said, "If I waited for boys to open doors for me, I'd never get anywhere."
"Oh." Cronus couldn't think of a witty rejoinder to that and so he simply closed the car door behind her. He rubbed his ear and the two of them followed Rufioh and Damara (she clinging to his arm and he smiling nervously) inside the Freeze King. Cronus would have offered Meenah his arm as well but he had a feeling she would flick his ear again.
It was a Friday night, so the Freeze King was fairly busy. The jukebox blared in the corner while someone stood in front of it, leafing through the selections. There were only a few tables open now; he recognized a few people from school in a few of the booths, meaning some of them had either not gone to the pep rally at all (he wouldn't have either if it hadn't been the meeting place for this awkward double-date) or simply left early like them. Whatever the reason, the joint was full enough for him to look around and say, "Uh-oh, looks like you're gonna have to sit on my lap, Meenah."
"I would if there were anyfin there to sit on," she replied sweetly.
Rufioh and Damara blinked in shock, but far from being offended, Cronus just laughed. He'd known Meenah had a rather sharp sense of humor, and that was fine with him. It was better than Damara's sense of humor—she was good for an occasional laugh but altogether made bad jokes that fell flat.
Rufioh pointed at a booth near the back. "Hey, look, that table's still open."
He didn't really want to sit back there—he had a thing about sitting in the middle of everything—but at least the booth had a good view of the door, so he let himself be steered toward the back. He got the impression that Rufioh wanted to have his privacy and, considering he was the one with the black eye and busted lip, Cronus was willing to give him that.
The bonfire was fading down to embers and a slight chill stung at the air, but Porrim didn't seem to notice. She'd hopped up on the hood of her mother's car and leaned back against the windshield, interlocking her fingers behind her head and closing her eyes. Kankri chose to stay close to her, sitting on the ground in front of the car, since Karkat had long since wandered off, as had Rose and Kanaya (although they were presumably together because they had gone arm-in-arm).
"You hungry, kid?" Porrim asked, gently nudging the back of his head with her foot.
A slight gnawing had settled into his stomach, although he wasn't sure if it was real hunger or just a very infective restlessness. He nodded.
"Then let's go see if we can find the others and get something to eat, yeah? I'm thinking the Freeze King. What do you say?"
"I've never eaten there."
"No?" She sounded surprised, and when he looked up and back, he saw that she was leaning forward on the hood. "Don't they have Freeze King in Louisiana? I thought it was a national chain."
Kankri shook his head. "Maybe not in my area, and before we moved here, the farthest I ever went from Lafayette was about ten miles. My parents didn't like to travel much, and Lafayette had everything we needed—school, stores, church... my grandparents lived a few houses down from us, too. Well, my father's parents. My mother's parents were... well, I never spoke to them. My mother says that they didn't want her to marry my father in the first place since she was Catholic and my father is obviously Pentecostal. My mother ended up converting and her parents never spoke to her again, but my father's parents were quite welcoming. And when my grandfather finally stepped down as pastor, my father took over for him, so that church was in our family for a long time. I didn't really—oh. I suppose I'm rambling again. I didn't answer your question, did I?"
"No, you did. And I don't mind the rambling right now. It's actually kind of interesting because you don't talk about your family when there's other people around."
"No, I suppose not."
"But to revisit our previous topic of conversation, how long have you been here? Haven't you eaten at Freeze King since you arrived?"
Kankri shook his head again. "My parents believe in preparing all of our own food ourselves. I mean, I'm sure they won't mind if we go, but we only have dinner at home. So, to answer your question, I don't know what they have at Freeze King, but I believe I would be willing to give it a try."
"Good." She ruffled his hair, hopped up to stand on the hood of the car, and let out a shrill, piercing whistle. "Go find Karkat—Kanaya and Rose will be along in a few moments."
"Oh, was that what that was?" Kankri asked with just a hint of sarcasm, rubbing his ears.
"If you mean my patented little sister duck call, then yes."
Kankri stood up and headed off in the last direction he'd seen Karkat.
Lots of people had already left for the night, the greasers included. That made Kankri feel slightly more at-ease with wandering around looking for his brother. A few people were left, including the one boy he'd seen on the first day of school who'd mistook him for a freshman, and he was standing next to a girl in a dark-red skirt and talking to her. The boy hardly noticed him, but the girl did and she gave him a cheerful wave. He returned it and kept walking.
Apparently Porrim's "little sister duck call" had worked, because he saw Kanaya and Rose heading back to the car. "Have you seen Karkat?" he asked them, but they both shook their heads.
Fortunately, he ended up finding his younger brother a few minutes later. He was talking to another girl with red-framed cats-eye glasses and a teal sweater. They both stopped talking as he approached. "Hey, Karkat, Porrim says that if you're hungry, we can go to the Freeze King to get something to eat."
"I could eat," Karkat admitted. He looked back at the girl. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'll probably find Latula in a few minutes and head home."
"Okay. Yeah, um, if you need me..."
"I know where to find you." She gave him a half-smile. "Thanks."
Kankri got the sense that he'd intruded and felt a little bad, but it couldn't be helped now. He thought about inviting the girl to come with them, but if she'd arrived with others, they'd probably wonder where she went, and he also didn't know how Porrim would feel about another person tagging along. He felt a little awkward as the girl walked away, crossing her arms, but he pretended he didn't. "Let's get going—the others are waiting."
"Yeah, fine."
As Kankri suspected, Porrim, Kanaya, and Rose were already in the car by the time they got back, so he and Karkat hopped into the back without a word. Porrim turned up the radio on the drive over and the girls sang along to most of the songs, but neither Kankri nor Karkat had heard any of these songs. Their father generally kept the radio in the family car tuned to talk or oldies stations, and all of the songs sounded fairly modern. But for once, it was nice to ride in a car without his father droning on and on about damnation and doom.
Freeze King looked packed when Porrim pulled into a space next to a dark-colored New Yorker, but far from seeming bothered, she grinned widely. "Oh, look, the gang's all here. Come on, we need to get to a table quick!"
Kankri followed her inside with the others tagging along behind them. Rose spotted a free table and they rushed to stake their claim, falling all over each other to squish into the booth.
"Mister Sandman, bring me a dream..."
Kankri cracked open the menu and realized that he only had fifty cents in his pocket. I don't think that's going to be enough for both of us, he realized with a jolt of panic.
"Make him the cutest that I've ever seen..."
"Um, Porrim, I don't have very much money," he stuttered. "I only—"
"Give him two lips, like roses and clover..."
"Don't worry about it, darling," she said brightly. "My mom gave me enough money for all of us."
"And tell him that his lonesome nights are over..."
"Oh. Well, I should still contribute," Kankri insisted. "I have a little, see..." He fished around in his pocket and dug out the two quarters.
"Sandman, I'm so alone..."
"It's okay, really, Kankri. I got it. Put away your money."
"Don't have nobody to call my own..."
Kankri didn't think it was right that a girl would be paying for his food, but he did as she told him and put his money back in his pocket.
"Please turn on your magic beam..."
"So, any ideas what you're going to get?" Porrim asked, addressing the whole table this time.
"Mister Sandman, bring me a dream."
"I need to peruse the selection before I make my choice," Kanaya said lightly. Kankri privately agreed—he'd never seen anything like this before.
"Mister Sandman, bring me a dream..."
"Oh, my cod, look who just sat down," Meenah hissed in his ear. Cronus shivered but grinned, looking to where she indicated. It was Porrim Maryam in a booth not too far from theirs, sitting next to a girl who was presumably her younger sister—she had the Maryam look, a regal posture, dark skin, and jade-green eyes—and another girl, a blond. Facing them were two boys who could have been brothers. Cronus didn't recognize the one, but the other in the red sweater, he definitely knew who that was. It was Kankri Vantas, a junior in his debate class.
"Make him the cutest that I've ever seen..."
"I can't get over that glubbin' sweater, oh, my cod," Meenah went on, giggling.
"Give him the word that I'm not a rover..."
Rufioh and Damara twisted around to see who they were talking about. "Why is that new guy sitting with those whores?" Damara asked.
"And tell him that his lonesome nights are over."
"Oh, wow," Rufioh laughed, "that seems a little harsh."
"Sandman, I'm so alone..."
"Okay, well, I don't know about those other two girls, but Porrim definitely is," Damara insisted.
"Don't have nobody to call my own..."
Meenah rolled her eyes. "I don't pike her much, either, but I think callin' her a ho is kinda extreme."
"Please turn on your magic beam..."
Damara scoffed. "Well, forgive me for wondering why she's sitting with those random guys."
"Mister Sandman, bring me a dream..."
Cronus didn't join in for once. He wasn't quite sure why—that sweater of Kankri's was more than enough fodder for jokes, but he didn't feel like commenting on it. It actually rather seemed endearing, even. The junior had a tendency to talk a lot during class once he got on a roll, and it tended to be impressive bordering on downright award-worthy.
"Oh, great," Porrim muttered.
"What?" Kankri asked.
"Mister Sandman (Yes?), bring us a dream..."
"Looks like some of the Lost Boys are here," she said. She leaned back. "I didn't realize, but I think that was Cronus's car I parked next to."
"Give him a pair of eyes with come-hither gleam..."
Kankri's eyes widened. Porrim barely had time to squeak out, "Wait, don't—" before he whipped around in his seat and looked. For one dizzy second, his heart stopped—Cronus Ampora's ice-blue eyes were locked on him.
"Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci..."
"Quit staring," Porrim hissed. "They might come over here!"
"And lots of wavy hair like Liberace..."
Kankri wasn't quite sure why that particular lyric seeped into his consciousness, but in the split second before he turned back around, his cheeks heating up, he noticed that Cronus Ampora did have a lot of wavy hair. Despite the grease holding it back, it still looked soft, and he idly entertained the thought of running his fingers through it.
"Mister Sandman, someone to hold (someone to hold)..."
"I doubt it," Kanaya said. "They appear to be on a date. And Rufioh Nitram looks like he's already been in a fight tonight anyway."
"Would be so peachy before we're too old..."
"Nitram?" Rose asked. "Isn't that Tavros's last name? Are they brothers?"
"So please turn on your magic beam..."
"I believe so," Kanaya said. "There seems to be a resemblance between them, anyway. It's in the hair."
"Mister Sandman, bring us..."
Karkat gave Kankri a strange look that he tried his best to ignore. He knew he was still blushing for whatever reason (no, it was definitely not because of how intense Cronus Ampora's gaze was—that was utterly ridiculous, he was completely normal) but he pretended he wasn't. Cronus Ampora was an asshole, after all. He was obnoxious in class whenever he did show up, and it created a disruptive learning environment.
"Please, please, please..."
Porrim also seemed to notice the effect Cronus had on him, because she cleared her throat and said, "Hey, why don't you just ignore them? They're real jerks, all of them—Cronus and Rufioh and Meenah and Damara. Don't worry about them. They—well, okay, maybe not Rufioh, but the rest of them have given me so much shit since freshman year it's ridiculous. And I thought Cronus was kind of nice last year, but trust me, he's a total jerk."
"Mister Sandman, bring us a dream."
Kankri nodded. He knew deep down that she was right. Without saying anything, he began deciding what he was going to eat.
LYRICS USE WAS NOT ACCIDENTAL. (I totally plan on using more 50s songs as hints of what's to come.)
Pssssst please don't leave me a "review" that consists just of a ship you'd like to see because I have about eighteen ships already and adding more would be complicated, and I also don't like people wanting to change the way I'm writing my story. Also, if you leave a review as a guest and ask a question, I won't answer it. If you really want an answer, ask me on my Tumblr (link is on my main page here).