Complications
Chapter Nine – Curveball
Pascal is pacing in front of his discussion class early Tuesday morning, well into a lecture about Nikola Tesla's greatest discoveries and inventions. "-And that is when he came up with the idea for the Tesla coil," Pascal completes, stopping slightly to wait for one of Loki's snarky comments.
After a few seconds of silence, Pascal glances over at the center table, where his star student is surprisingly missing. Pascal cocks his forehead and raises an eyebrow at his brother, who appears to be just as puzzled by this occurrence, "Where's Loki?" he wonders. Vidcund shrugs.
All of a sudden, Loki bursts through the door. The young student positively frazzled. Loki quickly adjusts his misaligned sweater and plops down in the seat beside Circe, panting heavily. He drops a few of his books on the floor.
"You're late," Pascal notes, casually approaching Loki's desk before turning to the rest of the students in the room, "You have to come to class, people!"
"Hey, are you okay?" Vidcund asks, scanning over his rival's ragged appearance.
"Wha-?" Loki glances across from him, quickly shifting his gaze when he realizes who he is talk to, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Loki answers, a reddish tint glowing on his cheeks. Loki abruptly turns away from Vidcund, suddenly feeling quite flustered around him. "Damn it, Loki! What is wrong with you?!" Loki mentally kicks himself.
"-But even an astounding inventor like Tesla faced many hardships in his life," Pascal continues, pacing at the front of the room again, "Not all of his inventions were instant successes, so let's get into a few of these failings right now…"
Loki sighs, holding his head up with his hand as he is bombarded by his thoughts. "Come on, you don't really like him," he chimes, succinctly glancing over at Vidcund, who is busy scribbling in his notebook, "You just think he's a worthy competitor. Yeah, that's gotta be it!" he says.
Vidcund sits up from his chair and walks over to the pencil sharpener. "Oh God, look at his butt," Loki's voice chimes in his brain as he watches Vidcund stand at the other side of the room, seemingly mesmerized by it, "Was he always this hot?"
"So Loki, what's the answer?" Pascal wonders, staring down at his student.
"Huh?" Loki snaps his head to the side, locking eyes with his GST, who is impatiently tapping a piece of chalk against an equation on the blackboard.
"What's the answer to this question?" Pascal reiterates.
Loki cocks his forehead, the lines of the numbers all blurring together behind the board. For once in his life, he can't think straight. "I-I don't know," he admits. Everyone in the room gasps.
Pascal smiles and nods, surprisingly keeping his composure, "It's okay. Just try to pay attention next time."
Loki meekly nods and sinks into his seat, genuinely embarrassed by his subpar performance.
Fifteen minutes later, Pascal brings his hands together and stares at his class. "…So that, my dear pupils, is a summary of everything we will be going over this semester," he concludes, smiling at the group, "Just a reminder to all our physics team members, that our first competition is this Saturday, where we will be facing off against La Fiesta Technical University in preparation for the Winter Tournament next month," he says, "If there are no more questions, you are free to go," Pascal announces, stepping back slightly and watching as the class starts to pack up. Pascal sighs, eyeing Loki, who is still sitting in his seat, staring out at the wall.
"Hey, Loki?" Pascal calls out, the sound of his voice causing Loki to jump a bit in his seat. The student quickly stands up, "Stay back for a moment," he instructs, the room clearing around them.
Loki nods and exhales deeply, "Alright."
"Are you okay?" Pascal asks, lowering his voice gradually as the last student exits the room, "You didn't say one snarky comment the entire session, and I made plenty of terrible scientific puns."
"I'm fine," Loki states, narrowing his eyes at him, "I'm just going through something right now. Trust me, you wouldn't understand," he says firmly, staring Pascal in the eyes, "I'll be focused by the time the competition rolls around, I promise."
"Okay," Pascal replies, though the expression on his face shows he's clearly not buying it, "if you say so. Just try not to lose your mind over whatever this is," he warns, "I don't want anyone going crazy."
Loki tilts his head, "You do know how ironic that statement is coming from you, right?" he asks, his signature smirk returning to his face.
"Ah, there he is. There's Loki," Pascal smiles, sassily crossing his arms over his chest as he stares back at his rival.
…
Vidcund sighs as he slowly opens his eyes, the sunlight from the adjacent window waking him sweetly from his slumber as the chill, autumn air seeps into the room on a beautiful Wednesday morning. Vidcund yawns as he turns over, stretching his arms out slightly. His eyes widen as his hand brushes across a smooth, yet squishy substance. Vidcund moves his hand forward, the pungent smell causing his eyes to water as he stares down in horror at the brown streak on his palm. "Oh God, this is poop?!" Vidcund screams, immediately leaping out of his bed, swinging his door open, and storming down the hallway.
"PASCAL!" Vidcund shouts, narrowing in on his brother, who is sitting with Lazlo in the kitchen, "Pascal, what the hell?! Why is there poop in my bedroom?!"
Pascal shrugs, "I don't know, don't ask me how defecation works," he mutters, turning to the side and resuming his chocolate pudding cup.
"It's the skunk, isn't it?" Vidcund cries, the anger rising in his voice, "The skunk pooped on my pillow!"
"Vidcund, relax," Lazlo tells him, waving his arms down in a dire attempt to soothe his brother, "I'm sure Stinky didn't mean to do it."
"Yeah, Vid, he's wild animal," Pascal states, nodding in agreement, "They do stuff like this all the time in the wild."
"They poop on pillows in the wild?" Vidcund reiterates, feeling like he's going to blow his top any second.
Pascal shrugs. "Sure, why not?" he responds, "Besides, if you really think about it, isn't everything a pillow?"
Vidcund crosses his arms over his torso. "No," he growls, "And you better get rid of that thing today, or else I'm leaving!" he declares, swiping his arm out definitively.
"Vidcund, calm down, this isn't a big deal," Lazlo speaks up, his face filling with distress.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you the one who woke up with shit on your pillow?" Lazlo shakes his head, "Then you shouldn't have a say in this! Why are you even here anyway? I thought you were living with Dad!"
Lazlo slumps his shoulders in his seat and sighs. "Dad and I have been sort of on the outs lately," he confesses. "You know, just like the last seventeen years of my life?" he reminds them; all three of the Curious brothers stare somberly at the floor.
"Well, that's too bad, but I still meant what I said earlier," Vidcund recalls, "You can't have a skunk here. Either Stinky goes or I go, so what's it going to be?" he wonders.
Pascal and Lazlo turn to each other, their blank gazes filled with uncertainty as Stinky races over from the living room.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Vidcund outbursts as Lazlo picks up Stinky and cuddles him in his arms, "Unbelievable!" Vidcund mutters, stomping out into the hallway and grabbing his things. He storms back into the kitchen and glares at Pascal and Lazlo, "You guys are terrible brothers!" Vidcund yells, before raging out of the kitchen and slamming the front door shut.
Pascal and Lazlo sit quietly for a moment, the echo from the door slam ceasing around them. Pascal turns to Lazlo and smiles, "He says that now, but I bet he changes his mind," he nods.
…
Next door to this catastrophe, Loki is pacing around the first floor of his house, giving himself a much-needed pep talk about his latest conundrum. "You can do this, Loki," he quietly states, "All you have to do is just stay away from Vidcund…"
The doorbell rings, causing Loki to stop in his tracks. The young student slowly approaches the front door and turns the doorknob, unsure who to expect at seven in the evening.
"I can't do it!" Vidcund cries, throwing his hands up as he storms into the room, not even waiting for the door to fully open, "I can't live with my brothers anymore! I'm staying with you," he concludes, picking up his bag from off the front porch.
Loki watches as Vidcund sets his bag beside the stairs and walks into the living room. Loki follows him, waving his hand in front of his chest as he cautiously approaches Vidcund, Loki looking positively terrified.
"What?" he squeaks, "No, no, no. You can't do this!" he cries.
"Why not?" Vidcund wonders, sitting up on the couch, "I'll pay rent."
"Yeah…that's not the problem," Loki concludes, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.
Vidcund scrunches his forehead. "Then what is it?"
"Um…" Loki begins, rifling through his mind to try to come up with a good excuse as to why his crush can't possibly stay with him. Loki blushes deeply at the thought of the two of them living together, his daydream causing his mind to clutter as he comes up short with an excuse to deny him, "…nothing," he sighs, "I just – don't want to have to stare at your ugly face! It's gonna make me puke!" Loki cries, snapping back into his normal demeanor.
"You're doing it right now, and you seem fine," Vidcund adds in point.
"Damn it!" Loki curses, he turns his attention back to Vidcund and nods, "That's true. I uh, guess you can stay."
"Great!" Vidcund beams, "I'll go unpack my stuff."
Loki gulps as he watches Vidcund eagerly move past him, pick up his bag of belongings and trudge up the stairs. Loki sighs, doing his best to keep himself from internally and externally screaming. "Oh this is bad," his mind states.