BONER AU: DAY AFTER

[forkedroad]

Annabelle had always been a decent sleeper, but whenever she and the Tanners were due for some excitement, she often slept restlessly. The previous night had been different, despite her excitement; she'd pretty much fallen asleep the second she'd flopped onto their bed into a deep, hard sleep, soon drooling pretty ungracefully.

And the next day, they all awoke more or less frantically—or at least, Lauren and Annabelle certainly had. Lauren, out of anxiety, and Annabelle out of excitement. The three of them had done their thing, aiding the nice town they were in with their talents.

Now that all the excitement is over, the three of them have been paid for their efforts. They've been invited to a boundless meal, as well as wine and ale, in the evening, because the town, frankly, loves to party, and has a great reason to celebrate. But that invite, though accepted, doesn't help them soon enough, and so they've found themselves at a pub for some lunch.

They're seated at a communal bench table, and the brothers are sitting next to each other across from Annabelle. Annabelle has been desperately trying not to look at Lauren more than she would normally, which has made her realize she has no idea how often she does or doesn't do that kind of thing. Right now, her jaw is set against her palm, thin fingers curled into her dark, wild hair while her eyes are lid downcast at her food, which she's kind of just. stabbing relentlessly (but not so frantically so as to make a pub-wide scene) with her fork.

It's not that she's in a bad mood, or anything—she's been quite chipper, if somewhat stilted and odd. At the moment, she's just lost in reminiscence. She's trying to find what the hell had come over here the night before. She bites her lip, and the fork slips, causing an unpleasant squeak against the porcelain.

Comments

[wild_magic]

Dancing didn't sound so exciting, but theater did. He hadn't seen many of those kinds of performances before after all.

"I hope they do the theatric kind, that sounds fun. So does people drinking too much! They always do funny things then." And he can laugh at them. Solid plan.

[forkedroad]

"They do!" Annabelle agrees with a laugh. Sometimes Annabelle is one of those drunk people. Thankfully, not often.

She pauses, trying to think of what to say to Lauren. She studies her fork, inspecting it needlessly. "I'm sure you'll see something you find interesting. You just have to learn to look." As she says this, she rolls her eyes up to hold his gaze.

She tries not to smile.

[mylastchance]

He shakes his head as Susan and Anna laugh about drunks. To be honest, they could be pretty funny, but they could also be really annoying. Especially when it was someone you knew and had to keep an eye on, like Anna. He was glad Susan was still too young to be able to convince people to serve him. Of course then Annabelle pauses and Lauren stares at her curiously. When she says that and then meets his gaze he immediately looks down at his plate.

What the fuck??? Did that mean????? Was she trying to hit on him? Was she going topless to the party or something? Oh god no don't think about that. He tries very hard not to think about how he has seen her tits and in fact quite a bit more of her, but it's very difficult to push the mental image away. He shifts in his seat uncomfortably as he shovels more food into his mouth.

[wild_magic]

Susan can tell Lauren is uncomfortable, of course, and he glances at him with a curious look before going back to his food. It would be pretty hard for him to not notice something was going on, obviously, but that didn't mean he would say anything just yet. Lauren is uncomfortable enough right now and that's too funny to ruin.

[forkedroad]

"Anyway, Susan," Annabelle continues, taking a large bite out of the quarter loaf of bread provided with her meal, and talks around it as she chews. "If you don't have any fun tonight, we can be sure to find you something interesting to do in the next stop over. But you'll have fun, I think. Bonfires are always so invigorating, I find; back where I lived, it was always too wet and too lonely for that sort of thing."

Annabelle watches Lauren as she chews, finding his behavior too amusing to feel bad for him.

[mylastchance]

Lauren's not even listening, trying very hard to focus on unsexy thoughts. His food, Susan's food, Annabelle's food, Annabelle being wet and lonely. No, wait, fuck. He rests his fork on his plate as he scrubs at his face with a free hand. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Maybe I should stay in tonight."

[wild_magic]

Before Susan can respond to Annabelle, Lauren says that and he frowns, looking a bit worried as he turns to look him over.

"No, you should come! You'll have fun, I know it..."

[forkedroad]

Annabelle frowns, glancing at Susan and then glancing at Lauren. She doesn't consider he may, uh, need the privacy—and she wouldn't care, anyway. She puts down—or rather, drops, her silverware, opting instead to grab the remainder of the quarter loaf.

"You should come," she echoes. She nudges him with her foot underneath the table. "It would be good for you. You have to learn how to unwind, Lauren."

Really, she wants an opportunity to talk to him, which she can't very well do if he's sulking (and whatever else) alone at their inn room.

[mylastchance]

Well, if anything is going to wilt his would be boner it's his little brother. He can barely handle Susan sounding so worried and looking at him with those puppy dog eyes of his, but then Anna's saying the same, and well it's already hard enough to say no to Susan, but saying no to both of them is impossible.

"...Alright. But no magic." He says, looking from one of them to the other rather sternly. They did not need any repeats of what had happened in Pendleton.

[wild_magic]

Susan of course isn't happy with the no magic rule, but having Lauren actually agree to go to a party willingly cheers him up enough that he doesn't mind too much.

"Okay! I'm sure you'll have fun, especially with us there!"

[forkedroad]

"Good compromise," Annabelle compliments, taking another large bite of her bread, looking at Lauren through the corner of her eyes. Her smile is tight, because she's teasing, but she's sincere as well. "Just have yourself a drink or two and you'll be fine, Lauren."

[mylastchance]

He rolls his eyes, at the comment before going back to his food. He can't drink, he'll act like an idiot and that would just be so embarrassing. Plus, who would keep an eye on Susan (and Annabelle) if he drank?

"Pass."

[wild_magic]

Lauren might dismiss it immediately, but Susan definitely doesn't. He grins excitedly at the thought.

"No, she's right, you should! I've never seen you get drunk before!"

[forkedroad]

"Really?" Annabelle asks incredulously, and she laughs. She tries to imagine it, and makes a face. She muffles a laugh into her wrist, trying not to feel endured by the product of her imagination. "I'll bet that's real fun, actually."

She thinks he would be handsy, though, having recently learned a thing or two.

"Maybe some other time, though," she says around another laugh, gently nudging Susan this time. "We're already twisting his arm to come at all. The unexplored joys of your drunken brother will have to be an adventure for another time."

[mylastchance]

How are these two so good at embarrassing him? He tries to ignore their laughter, glad that Annabelle at least seems to be trying to convince Susan away from the idea.

"You can't force me to get drunk."

[wild_magic]

Susan pouts a little, but he's still smiling.

"We can't force you, but we can still get you to! But another time. Tonight you can just come and dance."

[forkedroad]

Annabelle rolls her eyes and raises her eyebrows, staring near the floor as she takes a sip from her mug.

"Bet I could," she says absent mindedly.

[mylastchance]

You eat a girl out one time and she thinks she has ultimate power over you or something! He just gives Anna a look before staring at Susan.

"I don't dance."

[wild_magic]

"Well, maybe you just never had someone to dance with before!" Obviously his words imply that he does now, but all that matters is that he tries to convince Lauren to dance okay. It's important.

[forkedroad]

Oh come the fuck on, Lauren. It would have been said either way. Annabelle doesn't pick up on his irritation, though.

When Susan says what he says, Annabelle pauses. She glances between the two, not sure she's comprehending. She swallows.

"Well, sure. Lauren doesn't talk to girls."

[mylastchance]

He can't even really argue the fact, doesn't make it sting any less.

"I talk to you." he murmurs, looking down at his food.

[wild_magic]

"And now you can dance with her too."

[forkedroad]

"B-but I don't dance!" Annabelle protests desperately, putting her mug down kind of suddenly. She doesn't mean to pronounce it so emphatically, but it's a response to both Susan and Lauren. Her heart sinks so suddenly when Lauren mopes at his food that it's actually just frantically alarming.

"I—I can't. That's what I meant. I know you talk to me, Lauren! That goes without saying."

Said in a very "duh" tone of voice...

[mylastchance]

"Well if we both don't dance then there's nothing to worry about." he says tersely. He idly wonders why it feels like he's being rejected when he didn't want to dance in the first place.

[wild_magic]

Susan frowns a little, disappointed that they've both rejected it, but he can't really make them... He doesn't want them to get angry or for anything to get more awkward, so he drops it for now.

"Maybe you can just talk, then? Maybe you have something you need to talk about."