22 October 2020

Prompt: Alone

Character/Pairing: Dingo King (OC), Luka Couffaine; sorta BG Bringo

Rating: T / PG-13 / Teen

Notes: I'm desperately trying to catch up on these but I'm definitely behind. *screaming uselessly into the Void* Also fun random fact: my Word of the Day e-mail today was "lulu", which apparently means "an outstanding example of a particular type of person or thing." I just thought that was really funny.

"Hey, Lulu?" Dingo asks, breaking the stillness of the Liberty's upper deck. It's never that quiet aboard the colorful ship, but it has been tonight, and the two fourteen-year-olds had been enjoying the calm.

"Don't call me that," Luka grumbles, his voice just groggy enough to make Dingo think he might've been sleeping. Or almost asleep. Or…

"Juleka said it first," Dingo wheedles, and Luka snorts.

"That's Jules," he says. "She had trouble pronouncing Ks for a while there."

"Shut up," Dingo laughs, reaching above his head to swat at Luka. Luka punches him back a little harder, and he snickers. "I'm trying to be serious here."

"You're never serious," Luka says, "and I'm tired. Today sucked."

"Today wasn't so bad," Dingo says. He rolls onto his stomach and props his head on his folded arms, grinning at his mate. "Coulda been worse."

"Shut up," Luka groans. He kicks at something by his feet, and there's a splash as whatever it is goes overboard. Dingo assumes it was nothing too important, given the general nature of chaotic…not garbage but yeah sometimes garbage that litters the deck. He peeks by Luka's feet to see an overturned crate of basketballs in varying shades. If they're lucky that's all that went into the river. "I'm too tired."

"But Lu," Dingo presses, and though Luka groans again he doesn't reprimand him this time. Dingo figures he prefers that to Lulu. "It's just…do you think…"

He pauses, unsure how to say what he wants to say. How to ask if Luka thinks Brielle will ever go out with him without sounding like…

"I'm trying not to," Luka says. "I'm trying to sleep."

It's late. It's been a long day. Luka has a point: he should just drop it and try to sleep.

"Bri's really pretty, right?" Dingo finally asks, and he can see Luka frowning even before he looks at him. His head tips back over the lounger he's sprawled upside-down in, and Dingo looks away. Hunches his shoulders a bit up by his ears, wishes it wasn't so dark out and he hadn't left his shades in Luka's cabin.

"I guess?" Luka hazards. He shrugs a little. "I've never really paid attention."

…which is stupid, because Brielle is gorgeous and how could he not?

As if sensing his thoughts, Luka continues, "She's just Bri. We've been friends forever. She's very pretty, but I don't want to date her. It's just like I think Jules is beautiful, but I'm not going to date my sister."

Dingo squirms a little, picking at the sleeve of the t-shirt he'd borrowed when his own clothes had been tossed in the wash. After Brielle had dumped her iced chai on him and…

It had been a really long day.

"Sometimes I think I'm gonna end up alone," Dingo finally says. Luka pushes out a sigh and rolls over on the lounger, kicking at another basketball. This one bounces off the edge and rolls back towards his foot. Dingo wonders if he'd meant to do that the first time.

"We're fourteen," Luka points out. "We haven't even finished collège yet. You have years to find someone. Maybe even someone who's not Bri."

"Nah," Dingo sighs, ducking his head into his arms. His forehead feels like it's burning, and he hopes Luka hadn't noticed the obvious blush. "That's just…that's me, y'know? Always has been. My own family doesn't even like me, so why would Bri?"

"I like you," Luka says, frowning. Dingo snorts. Luka sounds a little hurt when he talks again. "I do. And so does Bri."

"Bri doesn't want to get ice cream, though," Dingo points out, and Luka rolls his eyes.

"André is over-rated," he scoffs. "Ding, we're fourteen. Right now the only thing Bri wants is to make a kickass portfolio for her Sant-Saëns application. I'm pretty sure she thinks boys still have cooties, too."

"…no she doesn't," Dingo scoffs. He peeks out of his arms to find Luka grinning at him.

"She thinks you have cooties," he teases. "Some kind of infestation, at least."

"You are so cruel," Dingo says, but he's laughing for the first time since he'd asked Brielle out and she'd thrown a drink in his face. "I hate you. How dare you."

"You're not gonna die alone at fourteen," Luka says after their laughter has petered off. He's on his back again, grinning up at the stars you can never really see in Paris anyway. Dingo's about to thank him, to say how glad he is that they met and are friends, when Luka tilts his head back a little and winks. "You'll die alone at twenty-five. Like the dumbass you are."

…it's not much, but it gets him laughing again, and he's grateful for that. Luka's probably right, anyway.