Chapter 11
Chocolate
A whole lot of adoration and thanks to my beta the real vampire for taking the time to find all of my mistakes. There were, as embarrassing as it is to admit, a lot of them. Thanks again vamps, and if you haven't checked out her story "My Brother's Keeper" then you are missing out my friends. It is good reading.
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"Ohhhhhh, Dustin."
There wasn't much else Tori could think of to say that would properly express the feeling of unease that permeated her being when riddled with the sight before her.
It was just- she had no words.
And she wanted to. Her ability to create and weave a fluid conversation between the two of them was rather vital towards her and Dustin's relationship but she was, for lack of better word, speechless.
Her speech had been stolen and squirreled away to a world where speeches went to hide from the likes of conversations to which they knew they had absolutely no chance of doing justice. Cowardly, almost certainly impossible, yet here she was.
Beside her, Dustin fidgeted nervously.
"Why did you draw out the 'oh'? Drawing out the 'oh' is never a good thing. It's usually followed by 'ohhhhh, man you suck'; that's what a prolonged 'oh' is for." He stopped his ramble, teeth worrying against his bottom lip as his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I have to look it up to be sure though. To the internet!"
With that declaration he abruptly turned on his heel, probably to make his way towards his computer, and Tori reached out for him, fumbling to grab at his shoulder because she could not. Look. Away.
Had she but known what Dustin's request for fashion advice would have entailed, she would have done a better job mentally preparing herself. She would not abandoned him altogether (even though at the moment it was a tempting option) because she could not, in good conscious, desert him to this…this, but a little meditation would have gone a long way to brace herself when first viewing the strangely mythical and outlandish might that was Dustin's wardrobe.
It had been an innocent enough inquiry. She had managed to ask Shane to hang out with her and Dustin at the movies on Friday; nothing major, nothing that would require too much interaction. Just something to ease the air student into…her-and-Dustin bonding time, she guessed, would be the best way to put it.
Shane had agreed with an easy smile, startled at first, like he had forgotten what happened, but jumping on board happily.
Tori liked Shane. She hoped he didn't turn out to secretly be a creep or something. No, no it was fine, and the last thing Dustin needed was for her to have doubts, but that didn't seem to matter so much anyway because the possibility that Tori was going to be stuck in a horrified trance at the threshold of Dustin's closet for the rest of her life was becoming more and more likely.
He had just asked for some advice. Some helpful fashion advice from a friend. Because Dustin had concerns and he didn't want to mess anything up (he hadn't said as much but the message was clear enough to Tori). The blonde was willing to do anything that would bolster Dustin's confidence, including coordinating ensembles, so she had simply asked when and where and put on her perkiest attitude and her brightest smile.
Though optimism would only get her so far.
It turned out Dustin actually wore his workout clothes to and from training. Which were fine. His workout clothes were good. Simple. Nice.
This was not the case with his regular clothes.
Tori shook her head stubbornly, trying to snap herself out of the funky-clothes trance. "No, no. No," she said, reeling Dustin back beside her before he could make his escape. "No you're fine; don't worry about…"
She tilted her head to the side, trying to study one of his shirts. It had purple. And orange. On a yellow shirt. There were purple stripes and orange polka dots on the same yellow shirt. Where did he buy that?
She was…absolutely befuddled. She couldn't think of another word for it. And she knew she shouldn't ask, that her mind would remain in a more positive state if she just didn't ask, but her curiosity was beating out her common sense, and she really did want to know who was responsible for this particular catastrophe.
"Who buys your clothes Dustin?"
The nervous twitching beside her evolved into an awkward nervous dance; Dustin constantly shifting his feet in unease and moving as much as her grip on his shirt would allow.
There was trepidation in his tone when he answered. "I mean uh…I do? My mom just gives me the money before school starts and lets me take care of it." He stilled for a moment, lost in thought, making sure he properly answered her question. "Except for emergencies. Like that time I lost my coat. But other than that you know…" He motioned to his pile of awful with pride. "It's all me."
She had been afraid of that.
Tori couldn't help the twitching, though luckily she was able to keep it to a minimum, and resisted the urge to back away slowly from the hodge-podge of clothing. Her imagination must have taken some inspiration from all the wild colors because she could swear the clothes were edging toward her, wanting to drag her tastefully put together ensemble into its pit of uncoordinated-colors.
"And what…" Tori tried to think of the best way to put this; what would be the least insulting to an already skittish companion. "What exactly was your…" Her eye twitched again; one of his shirts had a mock-holographic panel on the front.
Oh God.
"Criteria," she settled on, the word feeling odd and unnatural in her mouth. "When searching for your…clothes?"
And that was, undeniably, debatable.
These were not clothes. These were offenses to modern society. These should be outcast from civilization and shunned, shunned, to die a soggy, weather-beaten death where no one would ever have the misfortune of casting their eyes on them ever again.
"Uh…" Dustin trailed off, kicking (literally kicking) his feet in a bashful manner. "…Yellow?"
Tori's eye twitched again.
Dustin shuffled some more. "Does that not-?"
"Nope," Tori interrupted, knowing exactly where his question was going. "That does not count."
At least…well, at least the pants were okay. The motocross gear checked out too. And he had like, three okay t-shirts that didn't feel the need to assault one's eyeballs. So there was that.
"Is it bad?"
She turned her eyes away from the fashion horror story for the first time since it had stumbled upon her vision, taking in the sight of a confused but certainly going on depressed Dustin.
Tori sighed but gave a tight smile, reaching out to give his shoulder a comforting pat. It almost seemed to be their main form of communication sometimes.
"We can do better," she replied, not quite answering his question as she moved forward, trying to separate the things that were salvageable/passing/fine from what needed to be shot and burned.
Not donated. Even she couldn't donate this stuff.
"Alright," she declared, shaking off her fashion-shock and getting proactive; she was a ninja-to-be and no closet was going to leave her moping. "First things first; we'll separate what stays and what goes."
Dustin jolted. "Stuff is- ?"
"Yes," Tori answered, waving a hand. "Stuff is going."
She knew this…this could cross some lines. There were boundaries and she shouldn't just step in and take over certain parts of his life but she couldn't- she just honestly couldn't leave him and his clothes like this. With this… She felt horrible thinking it, but with Dustin's current shopping strategy of 'buy-what's-clashing-and-yellow' it was no small wonder that he had…
That he had been picked on. Which was stupid; all he needed was a guiding hand to like, filter his color-magnetism to the less-clashing clothes and he would be fine.
She turned towards Dustin, starting a pile on his bed for the things that had been okayed.
"Dustin, I'm a girl," she explained. "And what are girls known to love?"
The beyond-baffled expression on his face was enough of a tell that he didn't understand how what Tori had just said applied to their previous conversation, so she wasn't all that surprised when his answer turned out to be: "…Unicorns?"
Tori stopped, sent him a reproachful look and immediately softened it, forgetting that Dustin letting her this far in was a monumental step for him.
Thankfully, instead of getting down-trodden Dustin opted for his cute, rambly sort of panic, and started fidgeting with his curly hair. "Cupcakes? Shoes. No not- obviously not shoes; that's a stereotype- is it rainbows? Cuz like, everybody likes rainbows so- oh, well obviously it's not rainbows because if everyone liked them it wouldn't just be girls so-"
"Fashion," Tori cut him off, smiling fondly at her babbling friend. "Girls like fashion and I am no exception."
Dustin blinked at her owlishly, frozen mid-spiel and looking like he had some very thoughtful suggestions on the tip of his tongue.
"Yes," he said, nodding slowly. "Girls like fashion and you like fashion and it makes very much sense to be talking about this not love for rainbows." He nodded again, like he understood this thing and all of its importance even when he really didn't.
"What I'm saying is that I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to this stuff."
Dustin blinked at her again, his knowing-but-not-knowing look plastered stubbornly on his face. He even rubbed his chin a little for extra style.
Seriously, he was best.
"So I know what I'm talking about," she explained. "When it comes to clothes. And clothes that need to go. And be replaced." She tilted her head to study him closer, to see if any of this was getting through. "Do you under-?"
"Fashion sensei!" Dustin exclaimed, causing Tori to stumble back at the jarring change from confuzled-thinking to all-out-exuberance. "Is that what you're talking about?" he asked, hands clenched in front of his chest and bouncing on the balls of his feet, barely contained excitement that he figured out where she was going.
"Yeah Dustin," Tori replied, smiling brightly. "Fashion sensei."
"Cool."
Now that went much better than she could have ever hoped it to.
"Okay now," she began as she continued sorting out the piles, instructing Dustin to fold the things that would definitely be…dealt with. "Is there a chance you can get your clothes budget soon?"
"Sure," Dustin replied, nose scrunching in frustration as one of the fashion abominations refused any kind of folding-conformity. "I've still got the money from last time."
"You didn't spend it?"
He shrugged. "Didn't need to; everything still fit."
And if everything still fit and was safely within Dustin-qualifications why should he go out and spend it?
"Why not use it on something else then?" Tori asked, eyeing her tiny pile of savable clothes with a look of pity. The lone few, the only survivors to this horrible tragedy of fashion.
Dustin sent her a look of obvious distaste and gave up on folding his stubborn t-shirt. "The money is for clothes. To use it on something else would be dishonorable. Besides, that's what I've got my job for."
He threw the shirt off to the side and focused on the rest of his charges, folding, rolling and condensing them as best he could, making it so Tori didn't have to bother hiding the beaming smile she sent his way. A figurative slap on the wrist from Dustin had to be a sign of comfort, that he was finally lowering her down enough to be an equal instead of some untouchable thing on a pedestal, and of course, of course he would care about honor. Were there any teenage boy in the world who gave a damn about esteem and his own self-respect, it would be Dustin.
Even if the world didn't always do right by him, he would not surrender and do wrong in return.
Even with clothing budgets.
"Of course," Tori replied easily, and just like that any tension that might have existed vanished with a shrug of Dustin's shoulders, the weight of quarrel lifted and replaced with their usual harmony. "I apologize for suggesting otherwise."
Dustin beamed at her, the smile still shy but his eyes radiated a warmth he was still wary to express, but still, he beamed. "No harm done." He paused for a moment, recognition dawning on him as he remembered what had set him off on the honor-thing, and confusion set in again, head tilting to the side as he studied Tori. "What do we need the clothes budget for?"
Tori was proud to say she didn't actually have to spell that one out for Dustin; one not-so-innocent smile and a nod to his clothing later made him realize what Tori had in mind and the earth student groaned, flopping face-first onto his unorganized pile with an air of defeat.
"Ugh…shopping," he grumbled, clearly not understanding how his friend could do this to him; a fate worse than death befalling on his poor, virtuous soul.
"Yes," Tori chirped, light and happy and ready for the challenges that awaited them.
He turned his head towards her, making no attempt to move off of his new clothing nest. "I am second-guessing asking for your advice."
"Change is good," Tori replied, moving to hang the approved clothes back in his closet. "And I'll buy you some ice cream afterwards to make up for it, okay?"
When she came back into view his eyes were narrowed in her direction, contemplating the merits of getting up, before he grumbled, "There better be sprinkles."
"What's ice cream without sprinkles?" Tori asked, and the only response she received was a defeated snort, like he would go along with this but he would not be happy about it. Tori only smiled, knowing they were taking a step in the right direction.
Or, at the very least, his wardrobe was.
And that had to count for something.
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Getting to the mall in one piece wasn't a difficult thing; neither was finding parking or a department store that would have the appropriate clothes for Dustin's needs. The hard part, and Tori really should have foreseen this after the pitiful looks of longing Dustin sent his old clothes as Tori neatly boxed them away, was getting the curly-haired teen to embrace the options she selected for him. Oh, he'd try them on; if there was anything Dustin appreciated it was successfully following someone else's lead, but the obstinate mood of unenthused reluctance with which he tried everything on was beginning to wear down even her sunny disposition, and she had instigated the entire affair.
"What about this one?" Tori offered up her selection with a bright smile, ignoring Dustin's obvious look of doubt. It was a nice shirt, and it was yellow; what more could he want?
"I dunno," he said, unconsciously tugging at one of his stray curls. "It's so…"
When he trailed off and continued to say nothing Tori gave the hanger an additional shake, as though putting the clothes in movement would somehow change his appreciation for them. "It's yellow."
"True." He nodded appreciatively, showing that was the one feature he approved of. "But it's so…"
He trailed off again, head titled to the side, considering, and Tori struggled to think of the possible qualms he could have with this shirt. "Are the sleeves to long?"
"What?" He scrunched his nose, obviously confused as to why sleeve length could possibly matter. "No, the sleeves are fine; it's just…"
"Just…" Tori prompted, eyes wide as the anticipation finally got to her. If he ever finished his sentence the reason of her shirt's inadequacy would be bestowed upon her ignorant mind.
"Boring," Dustin finished, nodding in agreement with himself.
Tori blanched. Boring. He thought the shirt was boring.
"Yeah, that's it," Dustin said, smiling brightly as he came to his conclusion. "It's just so plain."
"But it's yellow," Tori stubbornly repeated, clinging to that lifeline to keep her from launching into a spiel about just how un-boring her clothing advice was.
"And that's awesome," Dustin replied happily. "But it's just so…regular. And stuff."
"It's not regular it's…" Tori narrowed her eyes, struggling to think of the right word for this. "Subdued."
When she looked back at Dustin he was blinking at her in the please-define-that-word face, and Tori tempered a quiet sigh.
"It's subtle," she explained. "Like…when you're drinking hot chocolate and you add just a hint of peppermint." She paused, waiting to see that he was following along, and then continued. "See this shirt is like that hint of peppermint. It's not what the entire drink is about but it makes it better by adding just enough to make it special. The peppermint is a subtle flavor."
"I get that," Dustin replied, nodding to show he understood but eyebrows still furrowed, indicating he was not entirely convinced by this argument. "But who wants to be peppermint when they can be chocolate? Chocolate's way better."
"Yeah, but eat too much and…"
"Chocolate overload," Dustin finished in wonder, eyes wide at the implications of her statement.
Note to self; metaphors are effective tools for explaining things.
"Exactly," Tori cheered, glad to see her friend was finally coming around to her point of view. "Now will you please at least try the shirt on?"
He paused for a moment, clearly still on the fence about the idea, but gradually reached out and relieved Tori of her selection of t-shirts.
When he came out of the dressing room any frustrations Tori might have had instantly vanished because this, this was worth it.
Dustin looked…well, he looked like himself. Casual and relaxed, clothes low maintenance, nothing too fancy, but better than…yeah, better than that other stuff. And yellow, of course, but nice yellow. Yellow that was untarnished by colors it should-never-be-coordinated-with yellow.
All in all she would say she had successfully earned her female-card. She never thought she would be allowed the opportunity to spring a makeover on someone that wasn't herself, but here she was. Dustin had to be loving this; she was sure there was at least fifteen different tv shows that featured a makeover episode - it was practically a requirement. The awkward-but-loveable caterpillar would, with a little support, elbow grease, and female intuition, get to fulfill the aesthetic potential they had all along, transforming into a radiant butterfly. A little clichéd, but still applicable.
And with…she didn't want to say regular, but with more subdued clothing, Dustin would at least have a shot at conversation before people used his fashion against him. At the minimum it would help him blend in with the crowd, if that was his decision. Whatever he preferred.
"You look great!" Tori chirped, moving to stand beside Dustin as he inspected himself in the three-way mirror.
Despite her enthusiasm the brunette still had a doubtful look on his face, tugging at the hem of the t-shirt nervously. "I look…yeah," he eventually admitted. "I look regular."
"Regular's not…" Tori stopped her automatic urge to ease Dustin into new clothing and actually watched him. Saw what he was doing, how he was feeling.
He was uneasy, that was clear, but she had simply thought that was par for the course when a girl helped a boy shop for clothes, even more so when the boy in question was Dustin. It was becoming more and more obvious that there was something else bothering her friend and it didn't have to do with the plainness of the clothes or the shopping or the abandonment of the old ones. It was something else.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, giving the earth student a look of concern that was nothing but supportive, for anything he said; no judgment.
He still flinched.
"Nope," he replied, his tone and the slight cringe aching at his jaw doing nothing to support the words spoken. "I'm all good. You're right, I look great, where's the next shirt?"
"Dustin-"
"I said I'm fine." He drew the last word out like he was begging, like they were back again, at the beginning, and he was begging Tori to stay; he was trying so hard to conform to this idea he thought the rest of the world wanted.
Conforming to…
Oh- and like that it hit her and Tori felt like a prize idiot.
Just, oh, because this discomfort was Tori's doing; this change was well-meant, but still an ultimatum. To change himself into something else.
Those had been his clothes. The ones he picked, for himself, and Tori had said they weren't good enough. That there was something wrong with…
"We don't have to do this," Tori said, utterly sincere, and gave the other teen's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'm sorry, I didn't think-"
She stopped abruptly, startled by his look of surprise and wonder, conflicted and sad and confused and all these awful feeling rolled into one, and he didn't know what to do, what was next-
"No you're-" he started, then cut himself off, shaking his head in frustration that he couldn't find the words to express himself. "I know you're helping, because you're Tori, you help, but they…"
He shrugged and she realized the "they" he was referring to had to be the bastards that conditioned him to be like this, withdrawn and quiet and she hated them, whoever they were, hated them with more passion than she thought could ever be possible.
"They…" Dustin continued, toying with the yellow hem once more. "They did this. The shopping and fixing thing. They tried to help, but then they uh…well, they left and after that I just…I bought all the stuff they didn't pick, because I didn't want to wear their stuff anymore because they…"
"They're jerks," Tori muttered, fierce and refusing to let Dustin think anything less.
The brunette snapped his head up, eyes pulled from the ground they had fixed on the moment he began his explanation. "Yeah well, I guess you…I don't…"
He still didn't believe her, probably wouldn't for a very long time, but Tori hadn't really expected that. She knew better.
But despite this, she was a girl, a girl with a heart that wasn't completely led astray by teenage whimsy, and she had a friend standing before her, starting to slip into a depression that was reasonable and frustrating because he didn't deserve that.
So she did the only logical thing she could do.
She hugged him.
She gave into the moment and threw her arms around his neck, drawing him in close and giving him a fierce squeeze, probably stronger than she should have and, after a moment of absolute shock, Dustin hesitantly reciprocated it. He leaned into her, sighing, and beneath her finger tips she could feel some of the tension leave his shoulders, finally relaxing for the first time since the shopping trip began.
"I'm sorry," Tori repeated when they drew apart, eyes focused on Dustin and disregarding the extraneous people around them casting them quizzical looks, wondering what was going on. "I guess I got a bit ahead of myself with the…" She motioned to his clothes and he smiled, hesitant and tiny. "How about we call it a day then? We can go and get ice cream and then head back to your place and unpack your clothes. What do you say?"
"I say…" He thought about it, then shook his head. "No."
Tori's expression fell; disappointed she had been shot down, though she supposed that she deserved it…
"No," he continued. "You're right. I mean, I didn't want their clothes but I also don't want…my clothes? Do you get it?"
He stared at her imploringly, gnawing on his bottom lip as he awaited her answer, and Tori nodded slowly.
Yes, she supposed she did.
"A fresh start then?" she asked with a smile. Immediately they were both grinning loons, Dustin's eyes lightening up like they did whenever he talked about food or riding or when he knew they were connecting, that they were making their way together in this giant confusing world of theirs.
"Yeah," Dustin agreed. "A fresh start. Let's do this chocolate-mint thing."
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Shane had tried to plead off his assigned duties with claims of sore muscles and low energy; he had argued that he needed rest, he needed space, he needed to do things that did not include playing chauffeur to certain younger siblings who were less than grateful for his efforts and more than happy to waste his time deliberating between two sets of high heels that looked exactly the same.
Unfortunately, he did not win any of his arguments. Not that he expected to, but he could at least say he tried. On principle.
He supposed he was due for another shopping run with Dana anyway; summer fashion would wait for no one and the fact she had put it off for this long meant she had to have taken some pity on his pathetic state after the first few weeks of training, where he spent most of his nights wishing in vain that the distance between his bed and his bathroom wasn't so damn far. Forget the rest of the house; he could only focus on the essentials.
But she needed clothes, which meant she needed a driver, which meant Shane had to drag his worn and bruised body all the way to the mall and back, segregated by several wasted hours he would spend just waiting. The only bright side to the whole affair was that he got to drive his mother's car as opposed to his old junker, so the drive could be made with modern comforts like leather seats, cd players, GPS, satellite radio, and air conditioning.
After the first few trips in his own car that resulted in Dana complaining about wind-blown hair, Shane's parents had been a lot more generous with their car keys, though Shane had a feeling this had less to do with their daughter's appearance and more to do with their unspoken concern for her well-being while being transported from place to place.
Sure, they'd let Shane drive around in a car that had been on its dying legs for the last three years, but put their "Precious little sapling" in the passenger's seat and suddenly they had a crisis on their hands.
Figured.
So that was how he, Shane Clarke, who only this morning was riding the high of being the only air student able to successfully untie his ankles from the tree branch they were stubbornly attached to and make his way to the ground, on his feet… that was how he, "Shane the steadfast and mighty" (Kevin's words, though Shane wasn't going to discourage them), was reduced to bag carrier and opinion-giver, though he had realized early on never to give his actual opinion. To commit that faux pas would result in Dana's anger from either his complete and total apathy or his nerve that he would declare her choices unsatisfactory.
Her words.
His words had been "whore-ish", but hey, details.
He had learned long ago to stop caring and plaster on as believable smile as he could, and if he just echoed that her choices were good, or that one of her other ones were better it would be so much faster. The less arguing the better. And he never helped her look for more options. Ever. If she even asked him to find another shirt fitting whatever requirements she was demanding he would find a grand total of one, as zero would only lead to more anger and two would result in hours of useless deliberation.
He did not understand what could take so long about picking out clothes. It wasn't hard. He bet his parents felt really smug for conning this off on him, masking it under the action of "bonding" but knowing the horrors that awaited him. This was not bonding; this was a threat. A threat they would laud over his head for good grades and cooperation, but he would not yield. He would tough out a few wasted hours for the sake of "bonding" if it kept him his skateboard.
Family problems, right? Right. Whatever. Shane needed to think of a new mind game to keep himself occupied for the next two or so hours.
"I think I need a few more blouses," Dana declared, leading the way with a confident gait while Shane trailed blindly behind her, forcing himself to remain silent as she guided them into a department store which looked remarkably similar to the other two they had previously visited.
"You know," she continued blithely and Shane snapped his focus back to her as she glanced over her shoulder, sending him an informative look. "A few that are more bright and flow-y. Something that says 'Summer'."
He wished the way she pushed her hands out and down like an explosion of spirit fingers was a figment of his imagination, but a similar gesture had already happened about three times during this trip, because one could not simply contain themselves when looking for something 'Summer'.
He thought it might be a fad or something, but the effort it would take to consider it seemed absolutely criminal to exert, so Shane fell back into apathy, dutifully trailing behind his sister and waiting for the torture to end.
It was random chance that he gave the men's section (or junior men's or whatever they called the teenage guy's section nowadays) a passing glance, mostly to see if the stuff they were selling looked exactly like the stuff in all the other stores so he could properly resent his sister for the mileage on his shoes, when his eyes caught sight of a female, coaxing a male through his fitting.
Aw, the poor bastard, dragged to the mall by his girlfriend. She probably wanted to spruce him up and bond and egh- just the idea of it was enough to make Shane want to make up an excuse for the guy. Just because he was stuck at the mall didn't mean that other poor souls had to be. Somebody should get to survive without mandatory style updates.
There was almost something familiar about the girl though, maybe the guy too, although Shane wouldn't know; he never kept that close a tab on guys. He looked back again, giving one final glance before his sister marched them out of view and narrowed his eyes, taking in the long blonde hair and pale blue clothing, comforting mannerisms as the guy, curly-haired and-
…huh, so it was a small world after all.
Tori, Shane immediately thought, and even from this distance he knew that profile from anywhere (she was the prettiest of the water students), and if he'd guessed that half of the duo correctly then the other guy must be Dustin, and there was the familiar yellow of the earth students, so it was definitely an option.
The skater wasn't sure if he should be so quick to abandon his pity though; even if Dustin was getting shopping advice from Tori there was still a distinct line between being dragged to do things and being dragged to do horrible things. Shane wasn't sure what to make of it. Would he be willing to go shopping with Tori? Well…yes, but that was entirely for reasons other than attaining new items for his wardrobe and more to do with being around an attractive, seemingly not-awful female. Rare gems, those were. Maybe that was why Dustin was here, though Tori didn't seem like the type that would demand a makeover and Dustin didn't seem like the type to accept one but then again, it wasn't like Shane knew them that well. Heck, he had been surprised when Tori asked him to the movies; what he had done wasn't that impressive, but the way Shane figured it you could never have too many friends.
And, if his gut wasn't steering him wrong, Shane had the slightest feeling Dustin didn't have too many of those, and it wasn't like he was that bad a guy so…
Well, a trip to the movies wouldn't kill Shane. He'd get to spend time with Tori and maybe Dustin would open up some, and then Shane could see why Tori hung around him so much. There had to be something.
"Shane."
The irritated call made the air student realize he had stopped walking; choosing to focus on the couple off in the distance, and Dana impatiently strolled back to his side, thinking he was dragging his feet in a petulant protest. Which he had gotten beyond, thanks. He was mature now. Or at least, mature enough.
A frown was fixed in place, small enough to not completely ruin Dana's beauty, but then she paused, realizing that Shane's attention had legitimately been drawn elsewhere. She followed his gaze curiously, taking in the two students off in the distance with a furrowed brow, wondering who they were.
"Do you know them?" she asked, genuinely interested. (Okay, so maybe she wasn't as awful as Shane had made her out to be, but still, shopping).
"Yeah," Shane nodded. "They also go to the academy."
Dana made a noncommittal humming sound, showing she had absorbed this knowledge, and then quickly moved on, intent to continue on shopping.
At least, that was what Shane thought she was going to do before she headed off in the wrong direction.
Off towards Tori and Dustin.
"Dana," Shane whispered quickly, trailing behind the bold and steadfast strides of his sister. "What are you doing?"
"Introducing myself," she answered blithely, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "They're in High School right?"
That figured. Incoming Freshman with big dreams of High School, his sister was already prepared to start networking, anything she needed to get an edge as she moved on to her new school.
"Yeah but-" She darted off to the side and he followed her, bags whiplashing behind him as they made a sharp turn. "They're more like acquaintances."
"Great, that means we'll both work at making friends."
"No way. I am not going to be in the same social group as my own sister. Go make your own friends."
"They're going to be juniors right?" Dana asked, completely disregarding his statement, and Shane let out a frustrated growl, trying to think of a good way to put this.
"Dana-"
She stopped and he had to jar to a halt to keep from crashing into her. Shane frowned, turning his look of displeasure to the two sets of eyes staring at them; Tori's as playfully kind as always, Dustin's widened with surprise at the two new entrants.
"Hi," Dana said cheerfully, no traces of the previous argument in her perky tone. "I'm Shane's sister, Dana."
"Little sister," Shane added, because he could and it was true.
For his help he received a short, displeased look over her shoulder and then Dana's eyes were all on Tori, shaking her hand and exchanging pleasant girl small talk about clothing and boys and dragging boys along to find clothing and it was so boring. And horrible. They might actually be bonding. Then his sister would have a better relationship with Tori than Shane did and that wasn't fair, that wasn't-
And then the next moment Dana was latching herself onto Dustin's arm, cooing about how cute he looked in his shirt and batting her eyes at him, despite the look of not-so-concealed shock on his face.
Yeah…probably should have expected that.
"So," she murmured, putting on her best set of flirtatious doe eyes. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
The panicked look that followed was completely aimed at Tori, forgoing Shane altogether in favor of the one ally Dustin knew he had, and said something along the lines of get-it-off-me.
"Oh, are you shy? Aw, that's so sweet. Don't worry, I don't bite."
And now it was it's-still-on-me-why-is-it-still-on-me?
…Shane might just lose his movie-watching privileges after this.
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Even Dustin could admit that he had been taking like, huge leaps and bounds where the area of self-growth was concerned. He was letting Tori help him buy new clothes, they were bonding, he had managed not to make a complete fool of himself in public (and he got a hug, which was awesome; Tori hugs were awesome) and then he was suddenly bamboozled by a small female and Shane and the small female wouldn't give his arm back and he liked his arm, they were pals. Dustin used his arm for many things like cooking and fighting and fixing bikes and he couldn't spend the rest of his life with a small female that kept making weird faces at him attached to it, he would never get anything done.
…and it'd be kind've weird. It would be weird right? That seemed like a thing that would be out of the ordinary, even if Dustin wasn't the best judge of that, but he was afraid that actually might happen because she wouldn't let go and she kept saying words and he really wanted his arm back.
This would probably require him doing something, seeing as Shane and Tori were too busy being unhelpful people that only looked on when someone got their arm kidnapped.
"That's great," Dustin replied honestly, unable to think of something else to say.
It really was nice to know she wouldn't start gnawing on him with her teeth, always a plus, and that must have been the correct reply because small-female's (Dana? Whatever) smile widened in response. Though that did nothing to lessen the intensity of the crazy-eye thing she had going down.
"Great!" Small Female echoed, super enthusiastic. He had- He wasn't sure what was going on but she was still smiling, so he supposed he wasn't completely messing this up.
In fact, it was kind've nice to make someone happy and he hadn't even done that much.
Alright, scratch the fear, small female could have his arm all she wanted if she continued to be pleased with Dustin's unskilled word-talking. Seemed like a fair enough deal.
Okay…maybe not scratch all the fear, but it wasn't time to run for the hills yet.
"Now," Small Female continued, blinking her eyelashes rapidly. She must have gotten something in her eye; he could sympathize. "The first question?"
It took Dustin a few seconds to remember what the first question was, the…oh yeah, the girlfriend thing.
He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, studying the small, still-grinning female, and tilted his head to the side. "Like, a girl that's a friend, or a girlfriend-girlfriend?"
"The second one," she chirped, helpful, and hey- it was like he found another Tori! Except she was smaller…and a little more scary, and kind've reminded him of the evil-girls from the past but still, she understood him. And she wasn't getting impatient at all. It was great! This had to be the best day ever.
Then again, they were always patient in the beginning.
"Then no," Dustin replied, pushing that small thought aside, and she brightened at that, though he didn't know why (unless she just liked receiving answers to questions; it didn't matter what they actually where, it was just her little hobby and if that was the case Dustin could totally do that, he could do that until the cows came home).
"Alright, that's enough of that."
The smile faded away as Shane bravely removed the small female (something Dustin could have done with earlier) and now she was pouting, but Dustin had his arm back and he hadn't even scraped the edge of spazz-itude, so he considered it a victory.
Dustin Brooks, conqueror of small females. He should have tried this out years ago; his height must be giving him super powers or something.
For a limited time, at least.
He was honest enough to know it was something he didn't want to risk ever trying.
"Shane," the small female – Dana – exclaimed, though Dustin couldn't figure out her tone, actually didn't care as much now that he was free, and he swiftly moved behind Tori because at least heknew she was safe. Really, any happiness he had felt with the little female was the result of optimism, making the best of what he had, and he wasn't the greatest judge of character in the world so little female would stay on the maybe-list. Maybe later. Maybe okay. Maybe never.
You know, the usual items.
"It's nice to meet you Dana," Tori said in her familiar tone of mixed calmness and cheer. She kept her gaze forward but snuck a hand back towards Dustin, gripping the side of his arm lightly in a comforting squeeze. "And it's good to see you Shane."
"You too," the other teen managed, hand still fixed firmly to his little sister's shoulder, and she was back to doing that rapid eye blinking thing again.
Man, there must be a huge piece of lint in there that hated her or something because she could not get it out.
They fell into a not-totally awkward silence? Maybe? Dustin couldn't really tell; it could be just a regular silence but the nerves of scary-female and Shane could be getting to him. It was always an option. But then Tori cleared her throat, nodding to the shopping bags Dustin hadn't seen clutched in Shane's hands.
"Well, we're just…" He could tell she was struggling to find the best way to phrase help-my-helpless-friend-pick-out-clothes, so he stepped in.
"Shopping," Dustin supplied, and Tori shot him a grateful smile.
"Shopping." Tori echoed. "And we've still got a ways to go."
Don't remind me.
"But maybe later would you like to join us for ice cream?"
The second before Shane responded was the most apprehensive second (okay, overstatement, one of the most apprehensive) of Dustin's very short life, which was stupid but there it was, and then Shane was nodding with a casual smile, because he was Shane and normal and regular and good at speaking, and normal, regular people could do things like have casual smiles and not have to worry about the way they communicated. For that Dustin wanted to hate him but knew he'd never really be able to. It wasn't Shane's fault he had skills.
And he had stuck up for Dustin, so any response to this guy that wasn't pure gratefulness would be the whackest of whack. And rude.
"Sounds good," Shane replied, subdued smile on his face. "I'll see you guys later."
"Right," Dana – small female – chirped as Shane began to lead her away. "We'll see you-"
"Who is this 'we'?" Shane asked, tone falling into a category Dustin could recognize anywhere. That would be the older-to-younger sibling fight. "You are going home."
"Shane," Dana pouted, if Dustin had his younger-sibling responses sorted out correctly, and Shane stubbornly plowed ahead, making his way out of sight.
After that the argument would continue but Shane would probably win because…well, it only seemed fair. The fact that Dustin had come to that conclusion purely based on the fact that Liv had won the majority of her arguments with him might be what some called "unsupported" or "not related" or whatever those detectives on Law and Order said, but Dustin decided to go with his reasoning anyway.
There was also a chance he was really hoping for Dana not to show up to celebratory-ice-cream time, but obviously that wasn't incentive to root for Shane.
Shane was just…a likeable guy. Dustin could want good things to happen to him. That wasn't weird.
"So," Tori began, turning to face Dustin as she continued squeeze his arm in a comforting manner. "That was…"
"She scared me," he admitted.
Tori laughed, with him, and even Dustin could feel himself begin to smile again as she looked on him with sparkling eyes. "I was going to go with intense, but scary works."
"Chocolate overload," Dustin said, nodding knowingly, and that got him another heartfelt laugh, their own inside joke, and Tori beamed at him.
"Yep, and now you know the wonders of-"
"Subtlety," Dustin finished.
She lifted her eyebrows at him, pleased and happy; not happy because she was pleased but two separate things and yeah, Dustin knew enough to distinguish that, and then she shooed him back to the dressing room with other t-shirts and button-ups and sweaters in tow, all of them featuring yellow, and Dustin, for the first time in a really long time, found himself enjoying the necessity of shopping for clothes.
And that really did make it the best day ever.
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Endnotes:
So…been awhile?
I hit Spring Break and figured well, it was about time for an update. Hope this chapter makes up for just a sliver of the wait.
Thanks to WWMTgirl for reviewing and delivering unto me some wonderful ideas about the workings of the Thunder Academy. Much obliged Madame; it's always a pleasure to find someone with which to gab about Power Rangers.
As for the chapter, Dustin's rambling was inspired by: ecokitty. deviantart gallery /#/d5c bsfo
And also, you know Dustin would be the kind of guy who would use the internet as a crutch. You know it.
Until next time :)